Dear American Idol, Please don't make me dump you.

OK, its that time again, and while I am still trying to emotionally recover from my last reality show abusive relationship with the Bachelor (What.A.Tool.) I've jumped into another one, with my old boyfriend American Idol. However, I may have to dump him, because he sucks. I have not blogged about the show so far-partially cause the Feds are visiting my office next week and I've been trying to make it appear that I know what I am doing at my job; and partially because I HATE HATE HATE this crappy Top 36 format where people only have one shot to get into the Top 12. There has been no time to get attached to any of the contestants, that is if you are like me and have not been blown away by the select few contestants who have been shoved down our throats by the producers (Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds). The ones that I LIKED from the Top 36 mostly did not make it through, particularly Ricky Braddy who went to Nashville's Belmont University (like Melinda Doolittle!). Seriously, that guy was certainly the best singer that we saw (sorry Gokey) and was pretty unceremoniously dumped on by all the judges but Paula for having "no personality." Ok, that ticks me off. Just because someone is reserved, conservative, shy, etc, does not mean they have NO PERSONALITY, or that they are "boring". That IS their personality. If that is not what the show is looking for, fine. Say that. Say, you're too shy for this show. But that's never what they say. They say the contestant is VOID of any personality simply because they are not over the top, loud, in your face unreasonably outgoing, or clinically insane (a la Tatiana del Crazy). I also liked Jesse Langseth (maybe this is because I knew she is Johnny Lang's sister and I luv him). The other Nashville contestants, Kristen McNamara and Anne Marie Boskovich, also failed to hit a home run with their ONE performance. Seriously, would David Cook have made it through with this format? His cover of "Hello" was his THIRD performance in the semi-finals.

So, I'm scared to get emotionally invested because it all just seems really contrived this year. It doesn't really matter who I like-Paula already gave us the spoiler on this week's show that its going to be a Danny vs. Adam finale. Where is the mystery? The suspense? The OMG will my favorite make it through? They've already told us they expect these two guys to be duking it out until the end, which just makes it a guessing game of what order the rest will fall. Its like it's your favorite scripted drama series (say, NCIS or something) but a major character gets killed off every week until there is no one left on the show at the end of the season and then they start over. Would you watch that? I wouldn't. And I may not watch this much longer either.

That being said...they are pulling out country week-make that Grand Ole Opry week, more specifically-very early this year. Its this coming week. Vote for the Worst has a list of songs it claims is the list that the Idols were given to choose from. Take a look here if you are so inclined.
http://www.votefortheworst.com/20090305/spoilers_upcoming_american_idol_8_theme_weeks
Apparently Randy Travis is the mentor. Which makes me scratch my head a little-considering that not one of the Top 13 this year was a "country" contestant, do any of them even know who Randy Travis is??? Anyway. Most people hate country week since usually there is only one country performer in the group. And, the rest of the group has to scramble to make something work. Last year's country week was specifically Dolly Parton week, and while that initially scared me to death, it ended up being pretty great. Most of the contestants did really original arrangements and it worked well. Of course, I have no idea if any of these years contestants possess the personal artistry or musical ability to pull that kind of musical makeover off since we've seen them perform, oh, all of twice so far. On the upside, that could make this performance-number 3-someones "Hello" of last season. My bet is on Kris Allen. I think he's the dark horse here-he's super cute, and while Simon never should have made the comment about hiding his wife (even though I think he was right), girls will like him and guys won't hate him (he's married, he's not a threat, lol). Plus, I was pissed that only Randy made any sort of reference to his arrangement on the song he sang last week for Jackson week. I think this may prove to be crash and burn week for quirky Megan, possibly Anoop (this would make me sad), and maybe even Allison "OMG she's just 16!" I think Kris and Gokey will be fine, as well as the JT lookalike Matt, and all have the best chance to do something nice musically with a recognizable song. This may even be Matt's breakout week if he picks the right song-I mean, country is really first cousins with blues, so he should be able to make this work easy. Sarver will be karaoke. Alexis and Lil are from Tennessee, albeit Memphis, so they've no doubt at least HEARD some country, and can likely pick a decent song (although if either one of them does I Will Always Love You I will HURL). I am hoping that Adam will tone it down about 14 notches this week and not scream at me and sing a nice ballad or Patsy Cline or something. Show those vocal chops that you have in a way that does not make me want to stuff my ears with cotton. And for the "blind guy" Scott-I think he's adorable but honestly not a good enough singer to last much longer. He'll be able to find a nice, message-y, piano country ballad and do fine, but I don't think Simon is going to be kind to him this week. Just a hunch.

Anyway, is it just me or does anyone else want to kick Idol to the curb this year?