How many did tney send through to Hollywood this week? One hundred? Two hundred? In the three “American Idol” audition shows they’ve aired since Sunday it seems as if there are more singers that the largely uncritical judges pass through to the next round than rejects.
There were more, though, in Aspen and especially Houston, though the judges are still not very adept in correcting the severly deluded. Newer Judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez will only go as far as to say “come back next year.” Randy Jackson will occasionally say “singing is not your thing.” But nowhere is there someone as blunt and refreshingly honest as Simon Cowell was (though he seemed to be more of a softie in the first season of his “The X Factor”).
The truth is that some of the biggest personalities are those who are rejected by the show. Such was the case for the fabulous The Magic Cyclops who auditioned in Colorado, claimed to be from Davenport, Iowa, despite a British accent, which he said he learned from watching too much PBS while growing up. His performances of both Neil Diamond and Jimmy Buffett, though, were not so different than that of Steven Tyler, who might have removed himself as judge after being severely judged himself for a screechy National Anthem he delivered before Sunday’s AFC championship game.
