Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Those who watch American Idol for the singing might be disappointed this week.

Those who watch for the drama … well, it looks like plenty is in store.

We’d been led to believe that Wednesday’s two-hour episode would focus solely on the final 60 singing Beatles tunes for their Idol lives.

I was looking forward to it because, frankly, there are still lots of singers in that final 60 we either haven’t heard from or haven’t heard enough from.

Well, now it looks like only the first hour of Wednesday’s episode will feature performances; the rest will be devoted to the Green Mile ordeal … where contestants appear before the judges to learn their fate.

So tweets dizzyfeet, aka Nigel Lythgoe: “Because of all the Drama in the #AmericanIdol green mile show we have been asked to cut the Beatles Vegas Challenge to 1 hour instead of 2!!”

Wow, the guy likes exclamation points.

Why stop at a two-hour Idol? Why not give us a four-hour Idol marathon that lasts till midnight so we can witness every bit of drama.

“On Wednesday is a 1 hour Beatle Challenge and then 1 hour of choosing the top 20 up until JLo breaks down and can’t continue!” Nigel adds, in a tweet with one purpose — to improve ratings.

Supposedly, Jennifer Lopez breaks down because a contestant with a touching back-story is eliminated.

If so, my vote for elimination would go to Chris Medina, whose wonderful back story has not been backed up by wonderful performances.

Of course, whether or not the elimination sticks is another matter.

Because in another tweet, Nigel adds this: “The #Idol talent was so strong this year, the judges lost sleep over their choices. Instead of a top 20 they eventually decided on a top 24.”

So did the judges reconsider an elimination and reinstate a contestant?

That wouldn’t surprise me at all.

This is, after all, reality TV. The more drama the better.

At least from Idol’s viewpoint.

Editor’s Note: Want to meet the Idol contestants who made it to Las Vegas. Go here, then click on each contestant’s name. You’ll wind up on a page with a brief bio, a photo and videos (multiple videos in nearly every case) of that person performing. I’d suggest watching the videos now. If history repeats itself, the MySpace pages, YouTube channels and Facebook pages for semifinalists will go black after Thursday’s episode.