"American Idol" Season Ten Musical Chairs: Contestant Archetypes Move to the Judges

In 2008, when I wrote about how final contestants on "American Idol" relate to Carl Jung's famous archetypes of the collective unconscious, I received two different trains of critical thought: "What in unholy Simon Cowell are you talking about?" and "That's a very unique and creative way to look at the show." Well, I thanked both of those camps since I consider both to be compliments in different ways. Even if millions of faithful "Idol" viewers didn't notice then or now, I continue to uphold the argument that the show has consistently chosen their finalists to fit into certain persona niches that are repeated year after year.

Yes, the rocker chick, the Broadway standards singer, the oddball comic relief singer, the African-American R&B singer and the blond country singer can all sit and join Jung's archetypes The Self, Shadow, Anima, Animus and Persona.

But now that Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul have departed the show to go off and play footsie behind the scenes (while fellow former judges Kara DioGuardi writes songs about it and Ellen DeGeneres goes and dances for hours to it), the producers gave hints before Season Ten that the role of the judges would inevitably change. The only question was whether newcomers Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and returning old-timer Randy Jackson would go along with it or decide to naturally display their individual personalities.

Based on the first two weeks of Season Ten as of this writing, there isn't a doubt that each one assimilated the living spirits of who formerly occupied those judging chairs.

When Steven Tyler was signed at the 11^th hour to fill the chair previously occupied by Randy, some people expected a lot more...well, more of the other randy behavior. And while "Idol" likely hired an FCC censor with a trigger finger ready to bleep more of the famous rocker's occasional verbal slips of French, a lot of people didn't expect the second big-lipped one to Mick Jagger to be so caring and nurturing of the talent trotted in during the auditions.

It's obvious that Tyler is this year's Randy Jackson without resorting to singing out a high-pitch "Dawg!" to a singer he likes. In some sense, he's also assimilated a bit of Paula in that he can be critical to an obvious no-talent without it being akin to a wasp's sting. Nonetheless, likeable Randy was able to do the same thing in past seasons until he started brandishing a harsher personality in Season Nine, perhaps by decree and influence of Simon Cowell himself.

Steven Tyler now fills those missing shoes. The heart of it is even more noticeable because it wasn't expected. He's even assimilated Randy's old and confusing, non-musical term: "Pitchy!"

Then you have Jennifer Lopez who was obviously brought in to fill the shoes and persona of Paula Abdul---a.k.a. the one who should have been living to judge dancers before being hired on "Idol." While we can thank pop culture for never calling Paula Abdul P.Ab, J.Lo ended up being an extremely expensive person to bring the Paula heart.

From what's been seen in Season Ten, Lopez is bringing it to a more muted degree. She seems a little distant at times, which isn't necessarily an impersonation of Paula. The key here, though, is that she doesn't show any signs of harshness that Paula consistently managed (and still manages on her "Live to Dance") to stave off. You can say that for the most dreadful performers who Paula seemed to know were oblivious to their glass-breaking awfulness.

Evidence is already there that Randy is doing exactly what many "Idol" fans expected: Bringing back his harsher Season Nine persona while tripling it with Simon's vitriol. Arguably, it isn't quite as bad as I expected, but shouldn't be surprising if it continues. Blunt comments such as "That's just horrible!" during the first two weeks of auditions are typical Simon influence without the poetry as part of the missing guffaw effect.

Without any deeper analysis, you can see the judging archetypes are more than set in stone. However, if Season Ten's judging triumvirate were forced into those personas, is it the personification of their real personalities or true method acting at its worst?

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As far as I know, there aren't any publicly-available stories around proving Steven Tyler is really as supportive and nice as he is on "Idol" this year. Though there also aren't any stories around that prove he unleashes a hell-raising rocker attitude to everyone who crosses his path. One thing we've all learned, however, is that many of the most notorious rockers both dead and alive were and are more down-to-earth, conservative and gracious than they dare let on.

I say Steven Tyler's "Idol" persona is basically real--with caveats of the lying shroud of television covering up darker things unseen.

Jennifer Lopez is more of an unknown when you go by the general assumption that she's a diva who may or may not still have her Gluteus Maximus insured. You also can get the assumption that she'll play along in a dignified way after getting paid tens of millions of dollars to judge for just one season. Then again, as with rock stars, those you expect to be one way are actually a personality you can't bring yourself to think is natural.

I say J.Lo's "Idol" persona is basically real--with her inevitable diva-like entourage just off camera with the green M&M's, makeup tray and Gluteus Maximus cushion. Marc Anthony isn't necessarily a part of that entourage.

You might be surprised to think of Randy as also an unknown. It's very possible that the nice guy persona he exhibited in years past was also a created archetype without a precedent. There may have been a Simon lurking in him all along. In fact, there were times during the show's glory years that he'd be surprisingly harsh on a bad night. In that regard, he may not have had to try very hard this year to assimilate the Simon archetype. Or, it could be a slight burnout after ten years of hearing too much inferior singing talent before getting to the true, all-too-rare "Idol" talent.

I say Randy is a bit of a converse to the rock star, meaning a slightly more cynical side to the person we thought was always sunny. It may be an emerging persona due to the realization that the "Idol" talent pool is shrinking (save early Season Ten auditions from New York and New Jersey). If that's the case, perhaps Randy would restore his sunnier disposition judging older singing talent on the upcoming "X Factor" while sitting next to Simon. A lot of American Susan Boyles are just waiting to be discovered by at least 2/3 of the old "Idol" judging force.

These forced archetypes might seem like the beginning of the end for "Idol." But because they keep everyone guessing which true personality will pop up each week, it likely bought "Idol" an 11^th season.

2008 article on "Idol" contestant archetypes:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/553849/american_idol_season_seven_formula.html?cat=39