Idol Chatter & Voice Views

So, are we in for more group songs this week on American Idol?

It’s an interesting question.

But there’s no doubt about this: We shouldn’t be.

Idol has another two-hour performance show set for Wednesday. Normally, that would mean a mix of solo performances and group numbers.

But Idol switched things up in Season 11, allowing each singer to perform solo twice for a show record of 14 songs.

Of course, that was when Idol had three judges.

Now we have four to critique (or babble about) what they’ve just heard, which would make 14 performances a challenge unless Ryan Seacrest uses a stop watch to cut the judges short.

As entertaining as that could be — I’d love to see Ryan try to cut off Nicki Minaj before she’s done talking … and we might never get to the point of a Mariah Carey critique — I’m guessing we’re in for some classic rock duos and trios.

Despite the fact that group numbers always seem unfair to me on performance night.

And not just because of what happened to Devin Velez last week. More on that in a moment.

First, let’s count the reasons we shouldn’t be judging the singers on these performances.

1. Singers often get stuck singing songs they’d never choose for themselves. Remember last year when Colton Dixon was paired with Skylar Laine and forced to sing a country song. Twice. Colton had no interest in pursuing country music. Yet, there he was, singing “Islands in the Stream” of all songs, for crying out loud, with someone who did.

2. Sometimes magic happens when singers are paired because their singing styles match so perfectly. Think Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams. But it’s tough to match up all the singers that way, so we’re inevitably left with a pairing like Season 11, when Phillip Phillips and Joshua Ledet were forced to take the stage together. I’m pretty sure that’s a duo Jimmy Iovine would never willingly put in a studio together.

3. Someone gets paired with the weakest singer left. Hey, if group numbers are part of the set list on Wednesday, do you think the singer paired with Lazaro Arbos might be a little concerned? And with good reason.

4. Idol isn’t even consistent with its handling of these performances. Last week, everyone offered feedback on the Janelle Arthur-Kree Harrison song. Feedback along the lines of: Janelle didn’t sound nearly as good as Kree. Only one judge commented after the next two group numbers. Good grief, Idol, if you’re going to do this, at least be consistent.

5. Idol is and always has been a solo singing competition. No duets like The Voice. No groups like The X Factor. And the contestants should be judged solely as soloists. Look over the list of finalists for the first 11 seasons. How many have released music as part of a vocal duo or trio? You can find a couple of Haley-Casey tunes out there, but I can come up with just one who actively records as part of a vocal duo, Brooke White, of Jack and White.

Now, as for Devin, does anyone really think he was eliminated because his group number went sour?

Let’s remember that he was in the bottom two on Top 10 week. He was in the bottom three on Top 9 week.

He was clearly not connecting with voters.

And I doubt even a superlative group performance would have changed Thursday’s outcome.