# American Idol 2 - the mean judge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652 "2003-01-19T16:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652/21 "2003-01-20T16:25:16Z")
I think it is important to realize that there are thousands of people who audition before they get to Simon and the gang. They go through a couple of rounds in fact. And they purposely let some absolutely horrid singers through for the purpose of letting Simon knock them down. I agree Simon needs to be honest and direct with them, but i can see how someone already thinking they can sing gets reinforcement by being allowed to go on an on in the process (while others who are probably more talented) only to have Simon declare “You might be the worst singer in the world.” can be taken aback. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652/22 "2003-01-20T17:33:28Z")
The thing to remember about Simon is that, as viscious as he can be in his criticism, his is equally expansive in his praise. And due to the contrast, most of the contestants seemed to feel that Simon’s strong praise meant a hell of a lot more than Paula Abdul’s praise, since she praised just about everyone. Simon’s comments, whether harsh or supportive, at least seem honest and genuine. As for Kelly, I think she could be successful, if they gave something other than recycled Whitney Houston crap to sing. If they don’t let her make her own mark, she’s going to fade pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652/23 "2003-01-20T19:22:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Brutaly honest would be something like “You’re really terrible. You can’t sing, and you haven’t got any style.” Instead he busts out with stuff like “You sound like a dog dying” and “If you were doing this back in the middle ages you’d be stoned to death”. That’s just being mean to get ratings. I agree with this 100%. Without offering up an opinion on the deservedness of his thoroughly nasty comments, Simon is the pit bull of the bunch and the producers are tossing him bloody scraps of meat. AI is a made-for-TV cockfight, except one side can’t fight back. Have you heard some of these awful voices on the commercials? How in the world did they get past the preliminaries? Clearly, the producers hand-picked some truly awful people for Simon to rip into shreds and for the audience to watch like a 27 car pile-up in slow motion. Ghastly. ---
**Author:** ![TyrC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@TyrC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TyrC)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652/24 "2003-01-20T20:50:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*Funny, I still have no recollection of having heard her songs, seen her videos, or anything else. The only time I see her is on ads for the newes AI series, and when ET talks about “What the cast from the first show is up to now.” > I don’t live under a rock, so I’m not sure exactly what all this means (aside from the fact that she obviously doesn’t have enough talent for the entertainment world to be THAT impressed with her). \*\* ``` What this means Elvis is that you probably have better musical tastes than the stations that would play whatever she "sings." I've never heard her shriek but I can tell by looking at her it would be some mindless noise that I have no desire to hear. ``` TyrC! ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652/25 "2003-01-20T21:17:00Z")
The first two shows are pretty different than the rest of the series. The bad people are picked to move on because they are bad, and the whole thing is very cruel. Once they narrow it down to 10 finalists, it’s a much different show. Everyone has a modicum of talent, so the comments tend to be much more relevant and constructive (and accurate). ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652/26 "2003-01-21T02:40:34Z")
**El Elvis Rojo** said: > [@](#): > > Funny, I still have no recollection of having heard her songs, seen her videos, or anything else. If you don’t listen to Top 40 type music, that’s not surprising. > [@](#): > > I don’t live under a rock, so I’m not sure exactly what all this means (aside from the fact that she obviously doesn’t have enough talent for the entertainment world to be THAT impressed with her). I don’t see how your statements follow logically. Because _you_ haven’t heard her, that means the entertainment world isn’t impressed with her – despite the fact that she had the top-selling single of 2002? **TyrC** said: > [@](#): > > What this means Elvis is that you probably have better musical tastes than the stations that would play whatever she “sings.” I’ve never heard her shriek but I can tell by looking at her it would be some mindless noise that I have no desire to hear. Wow, that’s amazing. It must be some new sort of psychic power where you can tell what a person sounds like just be seeing her. I guess you’re just superior to everybody else. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-2-the-mean-judge/149652.md?page=1)