Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Well, folks, it looks like we’ll get group numbers again tonight on American Idol.

Grrr!

I wrote earlier this week about how unfair this is.

American Idol is, and always has been, a solo singing competition. No duets like The Voice. No groups like The X Factor.

So what has the show started doing?

Manufacturing duos and groups. Which would be fine on results night.

But not on performance night when the contestants are vying for votes and likely to be judged partly on that group song.

Another blog site has posted a spoiler list of songs for tonight. Head here if you’d like to see it.

It also lists who’s singing with whom for the group numbers.

Now, how is that determined? Are the pairings totally random? Or do Idol producers decide who sings with whom?

Here are those groupings, and some conspiracy theories I’ll throw out there just to show how easy it is to question the show’s motives.

Burnell Taylor will sing with Candice Glover: Clearly the judges like Burnell. Much better than viewers at home. Why not give him a boost by pairing him with a vocal powerhouse?

Amber Holcomb will sing with Kree Harrison and Janelle Arthur: Clearly the judges love Amber. Probably a bit better than viewers at home. So let’s put her with a pair of singers who have never landed in the bottom three so she has the best chance to shine.

Angela Miller will sing with Lazaro Arbos: Judging from Jimmy Iovine’s comments, you get the impression the show wants to pull the quite popular Angie down a notch. So is that the motive for pairing her with the singer who mangled a group performance so badly last week?

There might not be an iota of merit to any of those theories.

But if Angie Miller isn’t a little worried about what will happen when the cameras roll … well, let’s just say it would be a natural reaction.

And she shouldn’t even be in that position.

A year ago, on Top 7 night, Idol let every singer perform twice. As soloists.

It should have done the same this year.

Especially after last week, when a group number disaster showed just how unfair this format can be.