The lack of originality is what really got to me, so I decided to do a comparison list for you, to rank the differences .

AI Format: Back stories, backstage interviews, talent’s hopes of a bright future, a talent performance followed by a judge critique and possible advancement to the next round.
XF Format: Back stories, backstage interviews, talent’s hopes of a bright future, a talent performance followed by a judge critique and possible advancement to the next round.

AI Simon Cowell’s Energy Level: near his exit, it dropped to a 3
XF Simon Cowell’s Energy Level: Closer to a 8, with full snarkyness intact.

AI Format: Private humiliation of bad performers.
XF Format: Public humiliation of bad performers. Tryouts are held in front of a live audience.

AI Categories: Solo singers, male & female, 16-28.
XF Categories: Seems like anything goes, but they did divide it into Boys, Girls, Over 30 & Groups.

AI Performances: Potential candidate howls, holds a note for too long, gets upset when they are criticized.
XF Performances: Potential candidate howls, holds a note for too long, gets upset when they are criticized.

AI Simon Cowel & Paula Abdul count: 1 + 1
XF Simon Cowel & Paula Abdul count: 1 + 1

AI Host: Ryan Seacrest
XF Host: British version of Ryan Seacrest

AI Showings Of Simon’s chest hair: Too much.
XF Showings Of Simon’s chest hair: Still too much.

AI Annoying British influence: Simon Cowell
XF Annoying British influence: Simon Cowell, New host Steve Jones, Judge Cheryl Cole. Note Cole has already been replaced by Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls.

In all, that’s not a lot of difference for me. I may give it one more shot, before going back to watching Modern Family, which shares the same time slot.

Other t.v. news:  The producers of  “Dancing With The Stars” say they will not punish dancer Karina Smirnoff in any way for posing for Playboy.  However, they did warn Kirstie Alley not to get any ideas.

Gotta be one of the most stunning eliminations in American Idol history, Pia Toscano was sent home last week.  One theory:  Young girls who do most of the voting didn’t take to her.  Or another:  Viewers thought everyone was going to vote for her, so they voted for someone else.

Controversial?  Pia is the fifth straight female to be eliminated.  Why are males winning this show?

So since Idol Pia has reportedly already signed a recording contract.  US Weekly magazine reports Jimmy Iovine’s record company,  Interscope,  signed her after the show last week, and allegedly has top songwriters sending songs for a rush release album.  She was on Jay Leno on Friday night, singing River Deep, Mountain High which she performed on the last week of Idol.

Okay, game on! 

Pia Toscano was clearly the American Idol contestant that had the full package. Vocals, looks, stage presence, natural talent. She was above and beyond and now she’s a footnote in the show’s history. Boooooo Idol.

I seriously hope she finds a recording contract soon, because she has what it takes to make it.

The Hollywood Reporter came up with five decent theories why she may have been given the boot so soon:

1. Girls don’t like girls: It’s a longstanding trend on Idol, whose audience is overwhelmingly female — girls don’t vote for the female contestants. Blame it on same-gender envy or the crush factor (this year’s prime beneficiaries: Scotty McCreery and Paul McDonald), as Naima pointed out after her elimination last week, but it’s simply a fact of Idol life. One by one, the girls get plucked like the petals of a flower. Watch them go…

2. Lack of guidance by the judges: With the new judges so positive pretty much all the time, the audience seems unsure of who to vote for. It’s not like the show needs a bully to function, but when you’re faced with the decision of choosing the best in a group of greats, some professional insight is called for and these judges are failing on that front. Suggestion: let Jimmy Iovine have a turn to tell it like it really is. Even a short segment at the end of the live show running down his thoughts on all of the finalists would work, no matter how disjointed it might turn out.

3. Presumptive Winner Syndrome: Or PWS, as I like to call it — it’s when everybody is so universally convinced that a contestant will win, that they basically neglect or forget to vote for that finalist. It’s been Pia’s problem from the very beginning, when it was insinuated that she might be a plant. Why? Because she’s so perfect! That’s why I criticized her pageant queen-ness, but I was also one of the millions who simply presumed that she’d be the victor.

4. The producers deemed it so: Now I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but plenty of my fellow Idol Worshipers are (I’m looking at you Jennifer Laski, THR photo director), so it has to be mentioned — maybe, just maybe, the producers fudged the results for some inexplicable reason, or simply to f— with America on the brink of a government shutdown. Although it’s worth pointing out that after the credits had rolled, several people in the Idol studio audience demanded a recount.

5. You can’t touch Tina: Personally, I thought Pia slayed what is arguably the best piece of music to come out of the Ike and Tina Turner catalog — with Phil Spector’s production, no less (listen to the original here), but there were plenty of rumblings around the web about her robotic movements, unattractive outfit, and simply the fact that you don’t touch the mighty Tina Turner. Pia had, of course, already taken on several of the divas, so why not? At this point, it was part of her Idol oeuvre. Still, the purists might balk, and perhaps they did.

It’s early, I know.  Only one episode has aired!  But if last night is an indication of the rest of the season…count me in.  What about you?

     What do you think of the changes to American Idol?

That was “General” Larry Platt of Atlanta singing his own song “Pants On The Ground.”

I swear to you Larry, I will not only keep my pants from falling down from now on, I am now on a mission to remind people to make sure their pants are in proper position.

“…looking like a fool with your pants on the ground…”

Tim Leary suggested we turn on, tune in and drop out.  How about I just tune in or tune out some TV shows this week?

I’m not sure what makes me want to tune out quicker?  That goofy debacle over the NBC late night slot, American Idol (which starts tomorrow night), or a lame-o sketch on Saturday Night Live.

I don’t mean to rake NBC over the coals, but this seems kind of backhanded to yank Conan out of his place. (Especially since I’m a fan.) You can’t give him The Tonight Show and then put it on later. Not cool!

Here we go again for another American Idol season too. I’ve been wishing since season 3 that this show would fade off into the sunset. It’s just not my thing, but oh well, here we go again.

What makes me want to tune in once again is Saturday Night Live. I haven’t seen a really good show from them until I tuned in Charles Barkely show on Saturday. He’s a big doofus and they know how to make him funny. Huzzah SNL, I’ll stop taking jabs at NBC if you keep the funny up.

Here’s one of the better sketches from the weekend:

This may be the smartest move that the show may have made in some time. Whether your a lover or a hater of American Idol, this is going to perk interest, generate ratings and make people love the show.

Ellen is one of those celebrities that everybody loves and can do no wrong. The same can’t be said for Idol, at least not until now.

Uh oh, I see a serious Ellen-Oprah battle going down real soon over who’s the most popular female celebrity. I think we should decide it the same way all good matches get settled. Straight up cage match, just like Thunderdome.

The guy flies to North Korea, and within a few hours of his arrival, he gets results. In this case it just happened to be a pardon from their seemingly crazed leader; Kim Jong Il for two American journalists who were caught crossing the North Korea border.

Here’s the rest of the story. North Korea told the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee that they would be granted amnesty if a dignitary like Bill Clinton came and talked to them. What? Was North Korea lonely?
Clinton wanted to make sure that everyone knew it was only a humanitarian meeting, and nothing else. I guess it all paid off.

In any case, Clinton still seems to be a heavy hitter when it comes to world affairs and negotiations. I wonder if I can ask him to negotiate a lower phone bill for me.

Maybe he can also chat with Paula Abdul to get her to come back to American Idol.