I enjoy watching Simon Cowell judge singing competitions. I simply enjoy singing shows altogether. The American version The X Factor is, perhaps, the worst singing show I've ever seen. I originally thought Canadian Idol was the worst, but they at least had some talent and one year where everybody was great (the year Kalan Porter won). Idol may be worse, but it's all how you look at it. The X Factor is similar to that, but many more things make it bad.
For one thing, Simon Cowell is English and knows his stuff and should be critical. In this, he's like Paula Abdul. He does have an eye for marketing, but lost his eye for talent. That is how it is these days: talentless people with good looks get all the breaks simply because they are marketable. All the judges picked favourites even during the auditions. I remember there was the one good-looking hick dude who sucked. Simon wanted him to sing again and his second choice was just as bad. The judges quickly said yes while the audience cheered the entire time. And that brings me to my next point: the audience. 97% of the audience were teenage girls. In any other show, there's people from all walks of life. Many of the dudes that sucked, got in because they were cute. Half of them didn't even start singing and there was already huge applauses! The positive energy from the audience rubbed off on the judges. And that brings me to the judges. Simon Cowell knows his stuff. Demi Lovato knows nothing. She has no talent, knows nothing about the biz, can't teach/give feedback, and is totally rude. Why not get somebody with talent and lots of wisdom like Anne Murray? She may be old, but is better than Demi in every way. All the other judges were decent. C-Lo was on and off. I was surprised with how good Kelly Rowland was.
Luckily, The X-Factor did have some upsides. There were some truly talented contestants like Jeff Gutt who should have won but lost to a talentless folk couple that won just because of their looks. They were also divided in four different sectors: boys, girls, groups and over 30s. I liked that arrangement. America's Got Talent was the only show where older people could partake in a singing show. But bias did occur. Kelly Rowland's only boneheaded move was sending home a 70-year-old truly gifted singer. Why? Because he would not be marketable as an old guy.
It was good while it lasted, but I'm glad it's gone.
