Male Singer Assessment

Tuesday night the males showcased their singing talent and the best word that could be found to describe their performance, in total, was mediocre. Many viewers provided much harsher criticism. It should not come as any surprise to Randy, Paula and Simon that the decided lack of talent on the part of the male group as a whole was recognized by the audience.

Like many viewers, I am attracted to American Idol, not only because I enjoy the opportunity to vote on upcoming singing talent, but I believe the unabashed and straight forward criticism of Simon Cowell is actually a characteristic that ought to be emulated by more people in America that are in a position to rate, evaluate or judge not only musical talent, but any of the broad array of job performances that are assessed in the entertainment, business, academic or work environments.

The overall poor performance of the males was to be expected if anyone was paying attention to the selection process. It was obvious that there were several talented females that were eliminated in an effort to provide an equal number of each sex to make the final 24 contestants. The opportunity for success was denied to several talented female singers in an effort to obtain that balance. One should not be disappointed by that reality, but should once again recognize the validity of that old adage that "the world is not fair". Even with Simon's propensity to "call it as he sees it", he fell victim to the social pressure of providing an appearance of fairness by selecting a equal number of males and females. One wonders what cry of foul might have emanated from the viewers if a few more females had been selected based on the judge's assessment of talent, or if the case warranted, a few more males.

The end result of the American Idol is to let the audience select the best performer, not the best male and best female, so one has to wonder why so much effort is placed on showcasing an equal number of each sex. Perhaps this selection process is a reflection of what occurs every day in America as those that judge select or promote attempt to secure the right balance of race, religion, male, female or any of the other myriad of factors that weigh on making sure that an appearance of fairness is portrayed when all of us recognize that it is not the case at all. Exceptional talents are often passed over or neglected because they did not fit the right demographic.

The poor performance of the male singers may hurt the ratings of subsequent shows and perhaps the judges will rectify their selection methodologies in the future to reflect their best judgment of talent apart from any forced need to have an equal number of each sex represented. I just want to vote in a contest that enables the best to achieve success without any artificial constraints.

At any rate - let the show go on!