An analysis of Simon the Confused
I know Simon's behavior this year is more complex than this, but I think these things are stirred into the mix:
He's in kind of a catch-22 dilemma. First, they added 'characters'. Just like his lack of knowledge and love for country music (which the English generally don't get - because it is in American Roots - not English), Simon also has a serious blind spot about how Americans in general love a 'character'. Not all Americans love the same character - but as a whole we groove on individualism and respond to it passionately. Sort of a small shark in Simon's sea of contentment at being the 'expert' on what the public will love.
Add to that his general discontent and boredom with the whole AI deal and his desire to be well shed of it - but somehow keep the $$$. His boredom hung heavy in the air during the auditions and it is still palpable on both performance and result night. I don't know if this is an English thing or a Simon thing - but Simon seems as unable to keep his boredom in check and under the wraps of good manners and tact as the Soul Patrol at hiding their giddy love affair with all things 'Taylor'.
Mix in the rise in age for the contestants. This is now garnering both a conglomeration of personality, talent, and performance since we are seeing 'generational' opposing traits - and - a somewhat obvious and inevitable unwillingness of the older contestants to bend to the will and whims of Simon's manipulation. While the contestants usually do look to Simon for the most accurate assessment of their talent and for the most critical critique of their performance, at least in the past, this year his petulance is displaying such a myriad of responses; being more intelligent and mature, they were earlier just confused, but are now reaching the rebelling stage. Adults clearly realize who votes for the next American Idol once past the audition stage and the internet is feeding the contestants the public's critiques in near-real-time. Voila, Simon the king (or Caesar, if you will) is losing this reign of control. For seasons he has been playing lip service to the public for being the 'decision makers'. This has now actually come to pass like an ominous portent gaining life. Love live the public! They are taking the reins and the reign and raining on poor Simon's parade.
The only down side being of course AI still rules the kingdom when it comes to the counting and casting of the VOTES, as well as the amount of manipulation, misinformation, and bad judgement that the public is privy too. FOX televising the recent spate of 'negative comments' made by the contestants is certainly the latest questionable tactic. Remember who is feeding the public appetite for info on their idols and who is selecting the items on the menu. Seems odd, but no one seems to be noticing the slight of hand because we are too busy gobbling up the morsels.
In any event, one way or another - Simon is on a slow inevitable decline with regard to 'direct' control and his pouting ain't pretty.
VOTE FOR TAYLOR - Pi$$ off a judge!
He's in kind of a catch-22 dilemma. First, they added 'characters'. Just like his lack of knowledge and love for country music (which the English generally don't get - because it is in American Roots - not English), Simon also has a serious blind spot about how Americans in general love a 'character'. Not all Americans love the same character - but as a whole we groove on individualism and respond to it passionately. Sort of a small shark in Simon's sea of contentment at being the 'expert' on what the public will love.
Add to that his general discontent and boredom with the whole AI deal and his desire to be well shed of it - but somehow keep the $$$. His boredom hung heavy in the air during the auditions and it is still palpable on both performance and result night. I don't know if this is an English thing or a Simon thing - but Simon seems as unable to keep his boredom in check and under the wraps of good manners and tact as the Soul Patrol at hiding their giddy love affair with all things 'Taylor'.
Mix in the rise in age for the contestants. This is now garnering both a conglomeration of personality, talent, and performance since we are seeing 'generational' opposing traits - and - a somewhat obvious and inevitable unwillingness of the older contestants to bend to the will and whims of Simon's manipulation. While the contestants usually do look to Simon for the most accurate assessment of their talent and for the most critical critique of their performance, at least in the past, this year his petulance is displaying such a myriad of responses; being more intelligent and mature, they were earlier just confused, but are now reaching the rebelling stage. Adults clearly realize who votes for the next American Idol once past the audition stage and the internet is feeding the contestants the public's critiques in near-real-time. Voila, Simon the king (or Caesar, if you will) is losing this reign of control. For seasons he has been playing lip service to the public for being the 'decision makers'. This has now actually come to pass like an ominous portent gaining life. Love live the public! They are taking the reins and the reign and raining on poor Simon's parade.
The only down side being of course AI still rules the kingdom when it comes to the counting and casting of the VOTES, as well as the amount of manipulation, misinformation, and bad judgement that the public is privy too. FOX televising the recent spate of 'negative comments' made by the contestants is certainly the latest questionable tactic. Remember who is feeding the public appetite for info on their idols and who is selecting the items on the menu. Seems odd, but no one seems to be noticing the slight of hand because we are too busy gobbling up the morsels.
In any event, one way or another - Simon is on a slow inevitable decline with regard to 'direct' control and his pouting ain't pretty.
VOTE FOR TAYLOR - Pi$$ off a judge!