1280 The Voice-Idol's Got Talent Factor Singoff

1280 The Voice-Idol’s Got Talent Factor Singoff

Oh dear, another season of American Idol has begun. Sometimes it’s tough to tell which of those shows you’re watching.

They’re all variations of Star Search which was a variation of Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts which was a variation of Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour which was a variation which sprung forth at about the same time as Amateur Night at the Apollo.

But of the latest batch of high energy, high tech, medium budget television shows, Idol is the grandpa.

And this year’s judging panel is getting high marks and should be.  Keith Urban is the only holdover from last year.  J-Lo is back. Harry Connick, Jr. is the third member.

So, no stupid battling divas (goodbye Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey.)  No more Randy Jackson who although an accomplished musician and producer wore out his welcome five years ago, Yo Yo Yo, Dawg!

But there is a sameness to most of these shows.  

X factor, America’s got talent (broader content than singing, plus Howard Stern and Howie Mandel.) Sing Off, The Voice (Ceelo Green reminds people of the evil dwarf troll under the bridge, Blake Shelton should stick to what he’s good at which is country music, who is Adam Levine anyway? Which non-entity woman will they install on the panel next time? Please bring back Usher, at least he has a brain and a resume.)

But back to Idol.  Simon Cowell has shown his greatest contribution to this show by not being on it.  His grumpy put downs were funny for the first few years but after awhile they got pretty old and predictable.

People are tired of this drivel.  So to save you time and effort -- and watching IS an effort -- here’s how idol will end this year:

The top three will be an African American woman, a redneck boy and a chubby blonde girl.  All three will have tragedy-to-triumph back stories and all three will be people who start their songs low and quiet and then burst into shrieking.  That last prediction is easy. Most songs go that way these days.

And what we can’t figure out is how today’s “artists” manage to blend that shrieking so masterfully with inarticulate mumbling.

There is one piece of good news in all this:  the late season shows will be 30 minutes each.  It’s a start. They all should be.

Oh, and if you watched perhaps you noticed that charter sponsor at&t was m.i &a.  They had enough with 12 seasons.

Shrapnel:

--With cell phones soon usable on planes, we suggest a countermeasure for those who prefer quiet.  Approach the annoying loudmouth and say “louder please, I’m missing part of your conversation.”  That often silences the offender, at least temporarily.

--Cell carriers are so obsessed with data, they seem to have forgotten that some people actually use cellphones to make and receive calls.  Hence we have the latest fastest downloads.  But “can you hear me now?” now no longer gets much corporate attention, though it still gets plenty from customers.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

© WJR 2014