American Idol in its strongest season ever

I have been watching American Idol (AI) again and enjoying every bit of it. I am sure that a lot of you will agree that past few seasons of the series were just plain blah. I missed the incisive barbs of Simon Cowell. I could not stand the warring divas. And the contestants were just lackluster. It reached a point where only one or two among the finalists seemed deserving and even those were not ones to get really excited about. Truth to tell, I do not even recall who won as last season’s Idol.

That was sad. American Idol used to be a good show. It made for compelling drama. It had suspense. It had glamour. And, fantastic singing. It was fun. It is also the only singing competition that has produced real stars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Not even the extremely popular The Voice has done that. That must be why I do not bother about the contestants in The Voice. What I enjoy watching are the production numbers featuring the judges which are really great. But AI makes stars and after some missteps, it might happen again because this year’s harvest is excellent.

The hard thing for me this season is seeing anybody among the finalists get booted out. They are all so good. I hear bits and pieces of Sia, Lorde, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and all those sounds we hear today getting twisted, toned down, hepped up and changed for the better by this very exciting batch. And they are all doing it by themselves. I do not know how it happened but there is so much talent in Idol this year. I have always believed that every finalist in any contest should deserve to be the winners. This means that all of the boys and girls of Idol should be deserving. Not just one or two. And they all are this season.

The only reason I can give to this development is that heaven probably intervened in the case of American Idol. Fearful that the 14-year-old show is now on its death throes, it sent out such a varied, talented line-up of singers that are now keeping viewers glued to their sets. Just wondering what they will do every week is already so much fun. So you can expect the Idol ratings that had plummeted down to dangerous levels in the recent past to begin rising again soon.

But while the show is really all about the singers, the judges also play a big part in attracting viewers. And the chemistry is so right among Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. They are genuinely nice people who care about the contestants, who want what is good for them and who want to produce the best Idol for this year. They are also a most attractive trio whom nobody would mind having on their TV sets week after week after week. And best of all, they know what they are talking about.

I am sure that this year will see the birth of not one or two but of even more stars out of American Idol. I do regret not being able to vote for my favorites at times but then I am also thankful that I can’t because there are so many of them. And last week, I found out that like me, the judges also did not feel like sending anybody home. They used their single save this season to keep Qaasim Middleton, who is such a terrific performer in the show.

So instead of the expected 10 finalists vying for votes this week, there are 11 again. Aside from Qaasim, who got the lowest number of votes last week, these are Clark Beckham, Daniel Seavey, Nick Fradiani, Quentin Alexander, Rayvon Owen, Adanna Duru, Jax, Joey Cook, Maddie Walker and Tyanna Jones.

 Still on talent shows. The Philippines is doing very well in the first season of Asia’s Got Talent, the pan-regional edition of the popular UK show. Last Thursday, Felicitas Garcia, a 54-year-old vegetable vendor from Pasig was waved into the next round of the competition after she wowed everybody with her rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart. It was no easy win though.

Judges Anggun, Van Ness Wu and Mel C instantly gave their OKs. But David Foster, who made no secret of the fact that he loved her singing, asked that she ditch her partner, comedian Moymoy Palaboy. Garcia refused. She lost his vote but won points for loyalty. I am sure that Foster was just thinking of a better future for her as a solo act. Let us all wait and see to find out what she and Moymoy will do in the next round and if Foster was right.

Garcia is the third Filipino entry to make it into the next round. The others who were voted through earlier and unanimously at that were 10-year-old singer Gwyneth Dorado and the dance group Junior New System.