American Idol 5/22

Congratulations, Jordin. The actual crowning was an anticlimax. Tuesday was Jordin's night, and the "great singer" blew the "great entertainer" out of the water. Blake is the show's best entertainer, but entertainers don't always sell records, as we all found out with Taylor, the least successful Idol winner.

The choice was abundantly clear, as Jordin and Blake each tackled the song slated to be the winner's single. This year, after saddling Taylor with the forgettably insipid "Do I Make You Proud,"the show announced a songwriting competition. The "winner" was the forgettably insipid "This is My Now." Why does this show seem to think America is dying for another cookie-cutter ballad? Choosing the winner's first single before they've chosen an actual winner is one of the show's biggest mistakes. You end up with a generic single that fits no one, although Kelly Clarkson's wasn't bad. The song clearly doesn't suit Blake at all and may have hurt his chances.

The show needs to let the winner pick his or her own single, geared to his own style and voice. Otherwise, the winner starts his or her career at a disadvantage, as proven by Taylor. It they want to create stars, they have to give them star-worthy material.

A couple of thoughts:

Wednesday night's finale showed "Idol's" star power, with everyone from Gwen Stefani to Green Day to Tony Bennett (who was the evening's highlight.) "Idol" is at the point where it can bring out its own winners as stars. Only Fantasia (who is appearing on Broadway) was missing. "Idol" is its own show-business universe, where even Sanjaya is a star.

Does Paula KNOW the meaning of the word judge? What good is a judge who never has an opinion? They're both winners! She just can't choose! What does this woman add to this show?

Carrie looked wonderful. She's actually the most successful of the Idols in a lot of ways. Country fans are very loyal. Kelly's new punk look doesn't suit her. Reuben looked well, considering. It was fun to see Taylor again.

With her performance Wednesday, Bette Midler wouldn't not have made it into the Idol top 12.

The disastrous Seattle audtions yielded both finalists and the songwriting team. So much for Simon complaining about Seattle.

Is the show on a downswing? Most news stories this week focused on declining ratings and lack of buzz for this year. I don't think the show had as strong personalities (Sanjaya and Antonella aside) as last year. But it's still the No. 1 show, in its sixth season, a feat only equaled by a few other shows, including "All In the Family." "Idol" is an odd reality show in that it doesn't cast villains. It's no "Survivor," pitting the contestants against each other. That's one of the best things about the show, but it can lack drama. Blake, Jordin and Melinda were nice people who didn't elicit a lot of strong feelings. Last year, Taylor was much more polarziing, Chris Daughtry was more charismatic, Elliott's struggles prompted sympathy and Katharine was a babe. It will be interesting to see how Fox will tweak the show to keep it fresh.