Simon Cowell, You Are Wrong

Quote of the day:
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
--Abraham Lincoln, from the second inaugural address.

Well, well well. Next week is the final episode of American Idol. It may be hard to believe if you avoid the show, but there has actually been some good singing this season. Maybe some of the best singing since this show began.

Naturally, many performances--and some whole weeks--are forgettable at best. The most recent example is Barry Gibb week--last week. Let’s not talk about it.

I usually agree with Simon Cowell in his evaluation of the performances, but I take exception to two of his comments, both in reaction to Jordin.

One was last night after she sang “I Who Have Nothing”--a song Tom Jones made popular 37 years ago. Simon called the song “old fashioned” and suggested that Jordin was ill-served by it. I think she sang it very well indeed. It was a moving moment, and the audience clearly was affected.

Another moving moment was several weeks ago when Jordin sang another old song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s "Carousel." It was authentically heartfelt, and practically brought down the house as the show ender. But, again, Simon said the song was “too old” for 17-year-old Jordin.

Far be it from me to pretend to know more than a wildly successful music executive. Well, not that far. The fact that a 17-year-old can take a “corny” old song, understand it and make it honestly her own says something important about her character as well as her talent.

And I also think it would sell. So there.