Saturday, September 24, 2011

'X Factor' Becomes X-Rated

Fox
We've all been seeing the previews for this damned show for the past six months. Simon Cowell's X Factor has finally premiered on Fox this week.

The American Idol meets America's Got Talent meets The Sing Off show exposed some extremely talented singers that proved themselves worthy enough to go into the next round. For other contestants, they either had the potential but weren't entirely ready yet or they were just plain terrible.

One contestant in particular, Geo Godley, sang an original song while...well, dropping trou. As the entire audience boo'd him, the judges looked away in disgust. Judge Paula Abdul dramatically left the area and shortly after the camera captured her gagging backstage. Has Paula never seen a penis before? She acted as if the guy took a dump on the stage for cryin' out loud! The only good thing about Godley's x-rated stunt is that it distracted everyone of his horrible singing voice.

One of the best auditions consisted of 18-year-old Melanie Amaro singing Beyonce's "Listen." Another great audition was Stacy Francis, 42, who had a tear jerking story about when she used to be in an abusive relationship. Francis sang "Natural Woman" and blew the judges away with her strong Aretha Franklin-esque vocals.

"That was one of the best auditions I've ever heard in my life," Simon Cowell said of Francis's performance.

As usual, Paula Abdul contributes nothing to the show and struggles to compete with the younger, hotter female judge -- this time it's Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. At one point, a contestant gushed to Scherzinger how beautiful she was. Abdul struggled to make her presence known by saying, "She is, isn't she?" (Translation: "Hi! I'm here too!") She was ignored and then repeated herself again, "She is, isn't she?" She was ignored again.

Former record executive, producer and songwriter L.A. Reid obviously knows what he's talking about, making him an essential judge on the show. I find myself tuning out when Abdul and Scherzinger are speaking and then tuning back in when it's Reid and Cowell's turns to speak.

In the grand scheme of things, this show was not any different than any of the other singing competitions. Simon Cowell or not, it is the same exact concept and format -- but did anyone expect any different? At least the winner will become 5 million dollars richer. Hopefully in addition they can have an everlasting career, unlike the many American Idol winners.







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