Idol Chatter & Voice Views

If you’ve found yourself grumbling about the state of American Idol as season nine grinds to a close, head over to americanidol.com.

The show has a survey they’d like us all to complete. And it’s a pretty exhaustive survey.

Who knows? If we all answer correctly, we might get Kara DioGuardi booted off the show.

Heck, we might even be able to convince the powers that be to go back to three judges.

Now, isn’t that a thought? More singing, less talk on a singing competition.

Anyway, among the other things you’ll get to express your opinion about are:

* The reasons you watch the show: On a scale of 1 to 10, I rated the quality of the contestants as a 10. (Perhaps one reason I rated season nine as a 3.) The banter between Ryan and the judges? I rated that as a 1, lest producers think we need more.

* You get to comment on Paula: Do you miss her? Would you like her back as a guest judge? Would you like her back on a permanent judge? All those questions are posed. I was non-committal. Given the choice of Paula or Kara, I’ll take Paula. Given the choice of Paula or almost anyone else, I’d probably take anyone coherent.

* The guest judges: I rated Neil Patrick Harris and Avril Lavigne as doing a good job. Neil because he really was good; Avril because of her cute little devil outfit. Hey, better that than Shania’s silliness or Kristin Chenowith’s bonding with Kara.

* You get to comment on the number of judges. Did you prefer three? Do you want to see more of the judges? (No, thank you.) Do the judges’ comments take too much time? (Gee, you noticed.)

* You get to comment on the judges’ save. Personally, I think it’s one of the better changes Idol has added in recent years. And that’s despite
the fact that I wasn’t especially pleased by the judges’ decision to use the save on Matt Giraud last year or Michael Lynche this year. Hey, it adds a
sense of suspense to those sometimes deadly results shows.

* You get to comment on the mentors. Do you like the idea of mentors? Did you think they did a good job? One guess about my answer in regard to Miley Cyrus.

* You get to comment on the concept of theme weeks. Probably the wrong question to ask in the wake of Frank Sinatra week. Judges to contestants: “Be current.” Producers to contestants: “Now go sing Frank Sinatra tunes.” Contestants: “Huh?”

* Do you want to see more backstage reactions? Do you want to see more of what the contestants go through behind the scenes? One question that isn’t asked: Would you like to see the contestants sing a full song as opposed to a snippet capped with an obligatory glory note? A full song? Wow. What a novel concept that would be.

* And, finally, you get to rate the judges. Oh, yeah, that includes Kara, Randy and Ellen DeGeneres. (Not Simon, of course, since he’ll be gone at the end of this year.)

Among my favorite statements to which Idol wants responses: Kara is an integral part of American Idol. I like Kara on American Idol. I’d miss Kara if she left American Idol.

Of course, I checked the strongly disagree box for all three statements.

I mean, I’d had enough of Kara by the end of last year’s semifinals. Before “No Boundaries.” Before the bikini. Before she called Casey James “ear candy” as well as “eye candy.”

The only pleasure I get from watching Kara comes when Simon critiques contestants immediately after her and contradicts everything she’s just said.

So head over and fill out the survey, especially if you’re not a fan of Idol’s second newest judge. The folks at Idol just might listen.