American Idol's Ratings Plummet As Caleb Johnson Beats Jena Irene For The Win

The days of American Idol being the top rated show on American TV are over. The former regularly #1 show is now regularly in the Top 20. Usually the lower tier of the Top 20.

I, among many viewers, bailed on watching American Idol last season by the time the contestants were whittled down to the Final Five, or Six.

I did not watch last year's American Idol finale. I know a girl won, I don't know her name, I don't think she has had a hit song.

With this year's American Idol I also did not watch the finale. For me the only one among this year's singers who made it to the live shows who had any chance at pop idol type success was Alex Preston, due to the fact that he is definitely a one of a kind original.

That is this year's American Idol winner, Caleb Johnson, above, sitting on a couch with Alex Preston.

Caleb Johnson  seemed  nice enough personality-wise. But pop idol-wise? His singing seemed to me to be totally imitative of rockers from the 80s. Nothing original about him. I think Simon Cowell would have not been impressed with Caleb Johnson, with Simon's negative critiques likely leading to Caleb's boot well prior to the finale.

As for Caleb's co-finalist, Jena Irene. Well, if you want people to pronounce your named with a long E, then spell it with a G and two E's. The letter J never sounds like Gee, not that I've ever heard.

As for Jena's pop idol-ness, I was not a fan of her singing, at times it was like she went so quiet and soft I could not make out the words she was singing. Performance-wise and entertainment-wise she was sort of dull.

And then there are the judges. I liked Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban. They all seem like very nice people. But, over the course of seeing a lot of hours of the three there were some elements I got a bit tired of.

Harry Connick Jr. at times seemed to be trying too hard to be "entertaining." Throwing beignets into the audience comes to mind. His critiques, at times, seemed sort of a bit overwrought and overthought.

Jennifer Lopez I  really like. And not just because she is very pleasing to look at. But, both she and Keith Urban did something that really annoyed me.

As in more than once Keith Urban and Ms. Lopez would stand while Caleb Johnson was rocking and dance along with the music like a couple of teenagers in cool kid head bobbing mode. It just seemed wrong to me that those two would do this. Harry would have none of it, even with Jennifer trying to get him to stand and join them.

Another thing with Keith Urban, and again I must say he is a very likable guy, who seems to give good advice, at times. But, he could maybe try and expand his vocabulary a bit. He used the word "killer" way too many times. As in verbiage such as "That was killer." Or "That performance was killer." Or "Man, that was killer."

American Idol is no longer a "killer" show. I doubt American Idol will ever find another Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Phillip Phillips or any of the others who have gone from their American Idol exposure to a show business, or political office career.

Apparently FOX realizes American Idol's best days are behind it, and so will be cutting the number of hours American Idol airs in its next season of searching for America's next pop star....

Simon Cowell is Trying to Create X Factor Beatlemania with a Bad Boy Band Called Emblem 3

I am sort of fascinating by the train wreck known as The X Factor. It is so so bad, so over produced, so badly hosted, so lame with its back stories, so lacking in talent.

When Simon Cowell brought this talent show to American TV he crowed it'd be a HUGE hit, that he'd be very shocked and disappointed if the show was not a #1 Hit.

Well, season one of The X Factor was a dud, ratings-wise, with season two being an even worse dud.

Not Number One, not in the Top Ten, not in the Top Twenty. I have no idea how far down in the Nielsen Ratings The X Factor has fallen, but I do know the show does not have many viewers.

One of the elements that makes The X Factor lame is each of the 4 judges supposedly mentor acts in 4 different categories. The judges act as if they are competitive with each other, desperate that their acts win. It's all so contrived.

Simon Cowell mentors the groups. One of the groups is a boy band which does not think it is a boy band, because they can play guitars, which calls itself Emblem 3.

A few weeks ago, after Emblem 3 performed, Simon Cowell informed the few viewing that they were witnessing history, that viewers were witness to the birth of superstars.

I am not making this up.

The 3 boys who make up this Emblem 3 boy band seem like nice enough kids. But, the way they are being puffed up seems borderline cruel.

Anyone remember last year's $5 million winner? Heard her hit record lately? Heard last year's American Idol winner, Phillip Phillip's, hit Home song lately? Home is all over the place, was used in the London Olympics, was used in last week's Glee. I think the last we saw last year's The X Factor winner was in a Super Bowl commercial, almost a year ago.

I watched last week's performance show mostly on fast forward. After one of the few fellow viewers mentioned to me how extremely odd the Emblem 3 segment was I went back and watched it in its entirety.

It has been almost a week since last week's X Factor debacle and I've read no mention made of how bizarre the Emblem 3 segment was last week.

Before the boys sang we saw them go shopping in a Los Angeles area shopping zone. Of course a camera is along to record this shopping expedition. Eventually someone supposedly recognizes them and asks for an autograph. Soon this turns into a mob scene with a herd of screaming girls chasing the boys.

This seemed totally staged and totally unbelievable to me.

The X Factor has so few viewers how could such a critical mass of fan girls be at this location to engage in such a hysterical scene? It was ridiculous.

Last week Simon Cowell had Emblem 3 once more in the pimp spot. Pimp spot means you are the last act to perform. This is the prime spot. As the boys sang the Monkees "I'm a Believer" Simon Cowell sat there with the oddest smug look on his face, as of he was sitting there thinking he was actually going to be able to turn these boys, on this non-hit show, into actual superstar celebrities.

It's embarrassing.

The choice of a Monkees song seemed telling. The Monkees were a manufactured band on an American TV show back in the 1960s. Sort of American TV's answer to the Beatles. The mall hysteria that erupted around Emblem 3 was very Beatlemania/Monkee-esque.

Except for the fact that Beatlemania was real, was not manufactured. The Monkees, though manufactured for a TV show, became a legit pop band with a lot of hits.

I think Simon Cowell is harboring the delusion that he can manufacture some Monkees' like fandom with his Emblem 3 boys.

That might work.

If The X Factor were not a HUGE fail on American TV.

Phillip Phillips Wins American Idol While Ace Young Proposes Marriage

A record breaking 132 million votes were cast, which after being tabulated, had Phillip Phillips beating Jessica Sanchez for the coveted American Idol Season 11 title.

With ten votes per phone line and additional online voting methinks those 132 million votes are more like less than 13 million people actually voting, with the majority of those voting being teenage (and younger) girls.

Well, I think all those voters made a good choice.

To me, Phillip Phillips is the best American Idol WGWG (White Guy With Guitar) winner in years. He's got personality, a sense of humor, can play a guitar and I can listen to him sing an entire song due to the lack of screeching.

I am not a fan of shouted screeching of the Jessica Sanchez/Joshua Ledet type. I think my tone deaf ears don't hear the melodic tones that others hear. I just hear screaming screeching.

The American Idol 2 hour Results Show was rather well done, in my opinion. Like a slickly produced, live, variety show on steroids.

Now that American Idol has been the #1 TV Show in America for so long all sorts of top stars are willing to appear. Neil Diamond, Rihanna, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Holliday, John Fogerty, Reba McEntire. I am likely forgetting some.

And, after 11 seasons there is a big supply of former winners that show up to sing again, like Fantasia.

Past American Idol Final Results Shows have had a lot of padding to fill out the two hours. This year, not much padding. Unless you count the long, possibly indulgent, but entertaining performances by Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler with Aerosmith.

The most contrived moment of the show was the hokey marriage proposal, with ring, when Ace Young asked his roommate, Diana DeGarmo, to become his lawfully wedded wife. Ace badly needs a haircut.

This year American Idol had an image advisor, Tommy Hilfiger, who was mostly ignored. On his advice Erica Van Pelt went from blonde to black. And then got the boot. Erica is back blonde. Phillip Phillips listened to none of Hilfiger's lose the gray advice. I suspect Tommy Hilfiger will not be back advising next year.

American Idol Limps Towards The Finale With Too Many Standing Ovations

I could not watch American Idol without the benefit of a DVR fast forward button.

Last night, after listening to Phillip Phillips, I hit the FF button and quickly zipped past Hollie Cavanaugh, realizing I'd zipped past her singing when I saw the judges doing their critique thing.

I did not rewind.

I liked the duet with PP and Joshua Ledet, singing Maroon Five, with PP being Adam Levine instead of his usual Dave Matthews.

The duet with Jessica Sanchez and Hollie quickly had me hitting the FF button.

I really think the standing ovations by the judges are getting ridiculous and meaningless. It's the law of supply and demand. When you have an excess supply (too many standing ovations) you decrease their value.

I don't understand the praise from the judges, along with standing ovations, heaped upon Joshua and Jessica. I am not a fan of the hollering style of singing. Or over emoting. Or both. For me Joshua and Jessica have pretty much zero popstar type charisma, with that lack growing more and more apparent as the weeks have passed.

Meanwhile, Phillip Phillips, who gets no standing ovations, seems to have a sufficient supply of charisma and I find him easy to listen to sing.

As for that little blonde Texas British pixie, Hollie, it seemed the judges through her under the bus last night. Which likely had those who vote for this thing voting like crazy for Hollie.

But, if there was a place to bet, I'd bet it was Jessica getting the boot tonight, not Hollie.

And let's talk about Randy Jackson. He is sort of a likable guy. With an extremely limited jive vocabulary. Can he not think of a more updated word to use than "dude". Dude, it makes you sound so dumb to say dude over and over again. You know what I'm saying? You feel what I'm saying, don't you Ryan?

I think PP has a lock on winning this thing. But, once again, just like the recently completed Amazing Race and the soon to be completed Survivor, I really don't care who wins.

Queen Makes For a Royally Long Two Hours of American Idol

That is Ryan Seacrest and his latest girlfriend, Julianne Hough, in the picture. I don't know if this picture was taken before or after the loving couple's discussion about Julianne's infatuation with Phillip Phillips, that was revealed on last night's American Idol.

After PP finished singing his second song of the very very long evening, Seacrest told PP that his girlfriend saw PP backstage and sighed, blushed and gushed "Yummy!"

The cameras then cut to Ms. Hough who looked very sheepish trying to dodge the camera.

Later PP assured Seacrest that he was not trying to steal his girl.

Wednesday's April 25 episode of American Idol was an odd one in addition to learning that Ryan Seacrest has a girlfriend who thinks Phillip Phillips is yummy.

It started off odd with the remaining 6 singers singing a laborious "mash-up" of Queen tunes with the remaining 2 bandmates from Queen.

Then the 6 each sang a Queen song on their own.

That was followed by each singing a song of their choice. Elise Testone and the aforementioned Phillip Phillips were the only ones to get anything amounting to judge criticism, both due to their choice of song. Though Randy Jackson liked PP's take on a Dave Matthews song I'd never heard before.

Jennifer Lopez let it be known, whilst she was verbalizing her dislike for PP's song choice, that she hoped it did not stop him from winning, which apparently she thinks he is on the fast track to do.

I do too. PP for the win. And likely Elise getting the boot tonight.

I did not get the standing ovation love for Joshua Ledet last night. Having said that, I must admit I am tone deaf.

And, one more thing, I thought the canned bits of the kids dissing on each other was amusing at times.