Drama brewing among the judges on Idol?

A wire story from the Fort Worth McClatchy paper suggests potential friction between new Idol judge, songwriter Kara DioGuardi and worn-out Paula Abdul. Given that seemingly every company is laying off people in droves these days, why must Fox and Idol producers add personnell? Randy and Paula's purpose on that show has long since expired. New blood in the eighth season is certainly a good idea -- not MORE blood.

That's my view. Here's the story:

Drama already following new American Idol judge
By Heather Svoko
McClatchy Newspapers
       Is there trouble already brewing for the newly appointed fourth American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi?

       Idol producers announced Monday that the Grammy-nominated songwriter will join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul at the judges' table when the show premieres its eighth season on the Fox Network in January.

       DioGuardi, who has worked with Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson, started as a singer, but eventually carved out a niche in songwriting. In a conference call with reporters, she talked about her judging style, but also had to deal with questions about the Paula factor.

       Abdul's sometimes incoherent behavior has raised eyebrows in recent seasons, and interviews she has granted have become increasingly loopy, leading to speculation that she might be replaced. Producers quashed the rumors, saying Abdul wasn't going anywhere. The choice of DioGuardi is interesting because of her connection to Abdul: Earlier in DioGuardi's career, the two co-wrote Spinning Around, a No. 1 hit for Kylie Minogue in the United Kingdom. DioGuardi said Monday that she hadn't yet sat down with the three judges for a chemistry test run, and she hadn't yet spoken with Abdul.

       "I've always had a great relationship with Paula,'' DioGuardi said. "I can't imagine her not being happy with it. ... We were friends, and she was very instrumental in my career in the beginning.''

       But Abdul was singing a more cautionary tune on a morning radio show Monday. According to Us magazine, she told listeners on Phoenix radio that she was excited about the new judge, but "I am concerned about the audience and acceptance. Time will tell. We'll see.''

       After being told of Abdul's remarks, DioGuardi said she wasn't concerned. "She's on a big, big show, and she's just probably pondering what could or could not happen.''

       So why a fourth judge? Producers "wanted to try a change,'' Abdul said in her radio interview. "They always tried for a fourth judge because it followed the format of the original show, (Britain's) Pop Idol. We haven't had much luck with that working, but we're going to give it another try.''

      (c) 2008, Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Photo: AP.

Idol Top 4: Hall of Fame Classics

Tonight's theme, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame classics inexplicably allows for David Cook to perform Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf. Unless this is another Hall of Fame, DD is not in the RRHoF. Cook's also tackling The Who's Baba O'Reilly. David A promises a sap fest with Stand By Me and Love Me Tender. Syesha's doing Proud Mary and A Change Is Gonna Come and Jason, who told EW he's ready to go home, as if we didn't all know that, takes on Mr. Tambourine Man and I Shot the Sheriff.

Hope the people involved with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are watching Idol's introductory tribute, given that they are playing Kiss' Rock and Roll All Nite as backing music and Kiss, shockingly, is not a member of the Hall and should be.

Meantime, tomorrow night Maroon 5 and Bo Bice perform on the bloated results show. Go Bo!

David Cook: Hungry Like the Wolf. Typically charmless, vocally monotonous performance. Boring. Paula's comment about watching David grow is as moronic as everything else she says. A problem with this season is that few of these contestants have grown. They all lack spontaneity. This was the kind of growling, unpleasant David performance we get every week. The only one of the remaining four to show some growth lately has been Syesha.

Speaking of which... Syesha: Proud Mary, "covered over 100 times," Syesha notes. Well, yeah. I like the way she phrased the word "turning" on the ballad part, swallowing it down and giving it back warm and full. The rock part was not particularly memorable, tho. Shrieky. Didn't give ol' Tina Turner any reason to worry over competition when she launches her tour later this year. That said, Syesha's the only one I still care to watch. Likable. Has grace, class.

Jason: "There are a few songs on the list I knew," Jason says, once again revealing his total lack of preparation and lack of respect for this show and its viewers. Bob Marley died so he wouldn't have to hear what this little dweeb's done to his song, I Shot the Sheriff. Randy: "For me that was a really karaoke Bob Marley. Dude, nothing special about it and at this point you have to show you deserve to be in the finals." Paula: "I never saw you perform more to the audience, but I wasn't crazy about the performance or the song." Simon: "Stand back. That was utterly atrocious. That is a song you do not touch, the performing and singing as bad as I ever heard, a first-round audition massacre, I don't know what you're thinking."

David A: "A fun song for me to sing," Robo-Singer said about Stand by Me. Technically, the only skillfull vocal of the evening thus far (and I liked the simple percussive arrangement) but I'm over little David. Tired of seeing his stage dad from hell in the audience, tired of David's same facial expressions every week, and his syrupy sound is not for me. But to be fair, he did a much better job than his competitors tonight.

David C: At least he was honest when he said he "could have done so much more" with his last song, the Duran fiasco. Thing is, he probably couldn't. He just hasn't the personality or range. As for his sleepwalk through the Who, it was as fake as the guitar he hangs around his neck as a prop. Even Madonna puts more effort and gets more out of her guitar when she plays it in concert -- and we all know Madonna is no guitarist. As a rocker, Daughtry would eat this Cook alive. Totally unconvincing.

How lame has Idol become this season? Rascal Flatts is in the house tonight, that's how lame.

Syesha: "Top 4, amazing experience, went home after results show and cried my eyes out," Syesha said, leading into Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come. She's best in her low notes where she's sultry and seductive. Unfortunately, she had to give Idol one of its money shots with the last high note held forever for effect. Overall, tho, nice enough. "Trying to be something it wasn't," Randy opined. Paula made Syesha cry with her "welcome to your dream" comment. Simon, in a shocker, agreed with Paula. Thing is, he's probably doing reverse pyschology on the viewing public. Sobbing, Syesha said the song meant a lot to her and how its origins in the Civil Rights movement meant so much to her and reflected how she changed a lot. The positive aspect of this is that unlike the Davids and Jason, Syesha has honest emotions, personality and flair. It'll be shame if she's cut this week. We need her.

Jason: Forgets the words to Mr. Tamborine Man, after saying you can't go wrong with the Bobs, and, unlike Brooke in week's past, this comes across as pure arrogance and contempt. Jason doesn't want to be here anymore, hasn't tried in weeks, and when you think of the better talents who have left so that he may remain, it's just offensive. "I'd pack your suitcase," Simon said. Sad thing is he might not have to. Viewers have blown it so spectacularly this season, this little idiot probably will remain.

David A: "Haven't sung a big romantic song on stage before," David A. said before doing his Robo-Singer version of Love Me Tender. Once again, the notes in the right place but totally lacking in spontaneity, believability or soul.

Tops of the night: Syesha, by far. Cook and Castro abysmal. Archie bland.

Going home: I'm going to go on a limb and predict Jason will go. I have to believe, or at least pray, America gets it right and doesn't go the predictable route and eliminate Syesha.

Neil Diamond Night

The five contestants will sing two Neil Diamond songs tonight. We hear that David Archuleta will tackle Sweet Caroline and America. David Cook will do I'm Alive and All I Really Need Is You (what's that one?) and Jason Castro's Forever in Blue Jeans and September Morn. [Syesha, pictured, fared the best.] I was hoping Cook, the most masculine of the three, would do Neil's Solitary Man or Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon (songs Michael Johns would have been excellent on) rather than the '80s tune he picked.

I wish Randy would stop booing Simon during introductions. After seven seasons it's not funny anymore (never was) and just makes him seem like such a moron.

"For me it's the chance to encourage the singer, the performer," Neil Diamond said.

The contestants will be judged after their second song this time. But not on this blog! We'll get right into it!

Jason: This kid's lack of musical knowledge (has he heard of anyone???) is grating. His performance of Forever in Blue Jeans, one of Neil's jauntier late '70s pop numbers, was the equivalent of hospital tapioca: no body, no flavor, utterly forgettable.

David Cook: "David went for two songs most people haven't heard before," Neil said. That's daring. I know this 1982 Heartlight album track, I'm Alive. I still don't think has a natural rock voice, he forces it, it's not fluid, but that said, I liked his rendition of I'm Alive. He saved it from its original slick production and put grit in it. Good job. But I still don't like Cook's attitude.

Brooke: Not a great vocal on I'm a Believer. Love her look (I would have preferred watching this without the sound) and that she did an uptempo for a change. But so far, Cook's leading tonight.

These songs are just better than these performers and Neil is not coaching, he's just being a nice guy. If anyone has experience it's Neil. Start coaching!

David Archuleta: "Uncertain how to end the song," Neil says of David. He got a little coaching at least. Maybe it's that Neil has such a commanding, deep voice, but hearing all these songs tonight by these lesser talents is rather disappointing, these all feel like sodas without the fizz, including David's strained Sweet Caroline. I'm getting kind of tired of the tone of his voice too.

Syesha: Doing Hello Again from The Jazz Singer and Thank the Lord for the Nighttime from his 60s catalog. Did a rather sweet Hello Again, contemporary R&B ballad treatment. Would I buy it or select this version over Neil's on my iPod? No. But given what we've heard tonight, Cook and Syesha so far are the most pleasing. She did a good job. Edges David C, in fact for round one.

Why is Paula reviewing Jason's second song BEFORE he sung it!! Lane, you were right: She would get all confused and not remember the songs. So embarrassing! "This is so hard!"

Jason: The romantic adult ballad September Morn is so far beyond this little boy's reach it's just plain embarrassing. Would anyone ever believe this guy singing this song to a woman? Would anyone believe this kid's ever BEEN with a woman? He sure doesn't sing this song as if he has any conception of what being in a relationship is about.  And afterward, he doesn't even act as if he cares. The time has come to end this joke and vote this kid off. He doesn't belong on a singing competition. Not funny anymore. "This is not the Jason we put into the competition," Simon said after two disastrous weeks.

Cook: All I Really Need Is You. I'll have to check my CDs to find the origin of this song. But it certainly isn't a jewel in Diamond's catalog. Where's the hook, the melody, the tempo? Cook's mediocre voice, smug delivery, certainly didn't save it. Weakest song of the night and only thanks to Jason, not the biggest train wreck. "I feel like I'm already looking at the American Idol," Paula said and Simon pronounced it "brilliant, made it feel that song was written this year." I don't agree.

Brooke: Is Ryan trying to prompt Brooke's dismissal by reminding viewers of Simon's negative comment on the previous song? Not fair. As for I Am, I Said, kudos to Neil for suggesting that she change the "New York" reference to Arizona since that is her homestate. And her smile, after remembering to do so, was rather infectious. Brooke's I Am, I Said certainly lacked the heft of Diamond's powerful original, but it was not bad. As Randy noted, this song is difficult with all the octave changes and melodic shifts. This performance is in the Top 3 tonight. She connected with the song.

David A: "They're coming to America," he sang, and after this cloying, syrupy Archuleta performance, I'd like to move to Canada. He sings every song the same I'm starting to notice. Calculating move, not unlike Kristy Lee doing God Bless the USA a month ago, playing to the masses.

Syesha: Thank the Lord for the Nighttime. Thank the lord for Syesha tonight. The only one to score twice on her selections. She, like Brooke on I Am I Said, connected with the song and also picked a good one with soul. She's not a great singer but she's got a winning personality, lovely smile, and she's a good performer, maybe the best of the remaining bunch. Cook has his fans, but he's got a cocky side I find to be a turnoff. Syesha, lately, has been a pleasure. Simon says she's a good actress/singer but thinks she might be in trouble tonight owing to less than memorable second song. He might be correct in that she could be voted off, given viewers' lack of taste (keeping foolish Jason in, for instance) but if she goes, it's not because she should.

Prediction: The absolute pits, on both songs, Jason. I'd like to think America has its eyes and ears open and can see the total lack of talent here and save us from another week of this drivel from this contestant. But since this is a popularity contest and Syesha wound up in bottom two last week despite a strong performance maybe Simon's right. Shame.

Simon says: I dunno

When asked in a teleconference who he figured would win AI: 6 Simon Cowell was at a loss:  "I can't call it at this stage. For Blake, he's a brilliant entertainer, but the negative is he's not a fantastic singer. The advantage for Jordin is she is a great singer and the negative is she hasn't done one performance yet which I can remember as a 'wow."'

Message to Simon: Blake is so not a "brilliant entertainer."  He's merely mimicking passe trends and passing them off as original. And I can name three WOW Jordin performances and did so in my Sunday Arts piece on the season's 10 best performances in which Jordin wound up with the Top 3, followed by two for Melinda, this season's other vocal standout. Check it out and hear the audio clip snippets for yourself.

Update: Simon was also a disappointment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday night. Usually amusing, this time he was just an ass. He spent more time talking about his fondness for real strip clubs and more time bashing Paula than offering anything of note. He just came off boorish. Clearly, he's not a fan of Jordin or Blake. More performances like the Leno gig and I won't be much of a fan of Simon, either.

Simon defends Kelly

Simon Cowell has come to the defense of Kelly Clarkson who has been slammed lately for daring stand up to Clive Davis, the head of her label, over the direction her new CD will take.

''Kelly is not a puppet; she does not like to be told what to do. She could have gone the easy route, which is, you go with [Since U Been Gone producer] Max Martin -- it's a guaranteed success. She made it absolutely clear that she wanted to steer the musical direction on this record. You just gotta say, 'You know what? This girl has given us millions and millions of sales.' You've got to give her that opportunity. If it works out, fantastic. If she then decides she wants to do a pop album, every good writer and producer wants to work with her. Because Kelly will be here for 30 years. She has one of the best pop voices in the world right now. What she sold in the U.K., Europe, Asia had nothing to do with American Idol. It had everything to do with the fact that she made a great record and she's got an incredible voice. She's not a girl who got lucky in a talent competition; we got lucky to find her.''

- Simon Cowell, speaking in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly

Meantime, Kelly has said this has been blown out of proportion.

Go Kelly!

In other EW reports, the most current results of their Who Will Win AI Poll has Jordin Sparks beating Blake Lewis 61 percent to 39 percent.

Simon dishes on "60 Minutes"

Simon (left, in a photo from Fox Television) did a TV interview with 60 Minutes Sunday night. In case you missed it owing to the late start (an interminible basketball game ran long preempting the program for an hour) here are highlights:

• He's paid about $30 million by Fox in America; $38 million in Britain.
• He doesn't sing, play an instrument or produce records. Rather, he relies on his "instincts" to predict what the public will buy. The Idol franchise is seen in 30 countries and every winner and some runners-up are funnelled through Sony-BMG where he is an executive with a $100 million dollar deal. This equals Bruce Springsteen's deal with Sony-BMG. "I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen. I should get $500 million," Simon says. (He may be right. Springsteen's not a big record seller. Like Idol or no, it brings in the dough worldwide. However, much of Bruce's music has endured for decades and will continue to do so. Nothing released from an Idol so far stands much of a chance of being remembered. Can you imagine Kelly Clarson's Since U Been Gone resonating in 2030? And that was the best single of the bunch. Clay Aiken? Taylor Hicks? Ruben Studdard? They haven't endured for as long as a bout with the common cold, let alone for decades like Bruce has.)
• Radio 1 in Britain called him the "antichrist of the music industry" for his narrow focus on hits as opposed to artistry (his big act is the gimmicky, and awful, classical boy band Il Divo). Guess this makes Clive Davis, his American counterpart the musical antichrist here. (I've been calling him that for years).
• The really, really bad contestants we see during audition weeks are not plants, Simon insists. "These are people who really believe they'll win."
• Simon was once approached by a couple who wanted him to judge them in bed. Not singing. $100,000. Simon declined. "I should have taken that offer," he says now.

The Judges in New York

When Simon's rude or funny or unflinchingly honest I love him. In New York he was merely cranky, so-over-this, he wasn't fun at all.

Paula's in redemption mode this week actually coming across as if she knows a thing or two about music. Good advice, not too flaky except for one blowout with grouchy Simon, this was one of her best weeks.

My pal Lesley commented she was pist at Randy's rudeness. Nah, he's just learned some new words beyond "dawg" and wants to show 'em off.

Guest judge Carole Bayer Sager brought out her '80s Dynasty 'do and some sage commentary. She hasn't really had any relevance as a songwriter since the '80s when she scored with a string of schlock hits (That's What Friends Are For, Arthur's Theme, among them) and certainly few, if any, of the aspirants had any idea who the hell she was. Still, it was a missed opportunity that no one auditioned with a rendition of Nobody Does It Better, a song she cowrote for the 1977 007 film. Pretty much everyone sang tuneless crap from the likes of Mary J. Blige et al so it was hard to work up much enthusiasm for the performances.

Finally, host Ryan Seacrest hasn't annoyed me once in two weeks. A record? The start of a good season to come?

Simon Cowell in Playboy

Simon Cowell is the feature of a Playboy Interview in the current Feb. 2007 issue, pictured to the left. It's an OK interview, offering Simon's thoughts on his favorite Idols (Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia and Tamyra Gray), his fellow castmates Randy, Paula and Ryan (he's friends with all of them but Paula's not invited on boys' night out) and his, well, lack of taste (he prefers Clarkson's music to Bob Dylan's).

The interview might have been even more of a must-read for Idol fanatics had the magazine interviewed the whole cast and crew ala its freewheeling May 1977 interview with the cast of Saturday Night Live. But, then again, Playboy itself is a mere shadow of what it was in the '70s.