Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Perhaps someone enjoyed watching Matthew Scott Frankel pretend to be a rapper tonight.

Perhaps someone enjoyed watching Tynisha Roches snarl and growl and chase Randy around the American Idol set with a mike.

Perhaps a few people even enjoyed that ending segment, featuring Cooper Robinson from deep in the woods of Arkansas. Though he can’t hold a candle to Gen. Larry Platt of “Pants on the Ground” fame.

Me, I just couldn’t help thinking what a momumental waste of time American Idol’s Los Angeles audition episode was turning into.

By my count, in an hour-long program, we got to see snippets of five Hollywood-bound contestants: Tim Halperin, MySpace auditioner Karen Rodriquez, belly dancer Heidi Khzam and brothers Mark and Aaron Gutierrez.

That’s it. And we got to see Heidi dance more than sing, which made Steven howl and J-Lo frown. And we didn’t even get to hear the Gutierrez brothers sing separately.

Heck, it seemed like Idol spent as much time pimping some of this year’s favorites — youngsters like Lauren Alaina and Brett Loewenstern and Scott McCreery — than it did introducing us to new talent.

Which might be fine for those who don’t mind the Idol silliness.

Me, I’d rather get to know the real contestants. The ones we’re going to see when the voting begins.

Because I can’t help but think back to past semifinals, when we’ve been confronted with a semifinalist like season nine’s Joe Munoz, contestants we’ve never seen before.

Last week, I interviewed season nine’s Paige Miles about her upcoming EP, due out in late February. She was one of those semifinalists who entered the voting round with zero exposure from prior episodes.

Here’s what she had to say about it:

“When the show went live at top 24, up to that point I was like the only one (of the female contestants) America had no idea who I was. They hadn’t seen me in the city rounds because they didn’t air it. They hadn’t seen me in the Hollywood Week rounds because they didn’t air it. So it was a little intimidating going into the top 24 when most of the kids already had a fan base.

“A lot of those kids had fan pages set up in their honor because America knew who they were. I had to open the season singing, and America had no idea who I was. Which doesn’t have to be a totally bad thing, but it’s scary enough for the show to go live … but for them to have no idea who I was … and they missed some really great performances of mine.”

Which has always struck me as unfair. Especially when other contestants — like Michael Lynche last year — seem to be a constant focus of attention.

Well, next week, Idol has one last audition city (San Francisco) followed by a Road to Hollywood episode, if I recall correctly.

Perhaps then they will make up for lost time and introduce us to some worthy contestants we’ve missed. (Still rooting for you: Ashthon Jones, Mallorie Haley, Charity Vance, all from Nashville.)

The one good thing about tonight’s episode … there was plenty of competition for the Snarky Simon awards. I mean, this was the episode that got Jennifer Lopez bleeped. On multiple occasions.

Or is that Stephen Tyler’s influence rubbing off.

Snarky Simon #1: To Steven. Contestant Victoria Garrett, a telemarketer, butchered her song. With a wave of his arm, Steven grandly pronounced: “You’re going to … Siberia.”

Snarky Simon #2: To Steven again. Contestant William Roberts, 24, had finished wailing. “I hear your voice,” Steven says. “I don’t think you’re ready for 2011, 2012 or 2013 American Idol.”