The Stars of American Idol - Yes, Even Including Nikki

As somebody who falls nicely outside the demographic of core American Idol viewers (at age 45), I have watched the Tuesday night "performance" editions from the beginning. I was as stunned as everyone else when Tamyra got the boot this week. I do however, think I may have some perspective here that isn't being considered by those who "live and breathe" the show each week. While by no means a Svengali of Simon's proportions, I have worked with upcoming talent over the years and have a better than layman's grasp of what to look for in performers.

From the first time I saw them sing, I was of the opinion that Tamyra and Kelly were the true stars of the show. I had seen them, along with Nikki, shine much brighter than the vibrato warblers and Mark Paul Gossellar lookalikes that were being fawned over by the younger viewers. Real talent sticks out like a sore thumb when standing beside the gimmick of the moment. How can I dare lump Nikki in with "real" singers like Tamyra and Kelly? It's obvious that Nikki lacks the range of the other two women, but she also embodies the one significant difference between American Idol and the original British creation. For 30 years England has produced far more confectionery pop music than the United States. They've given us everything from the Bay City Rollers to the Spice Girls. While these groups have a brief splash of success in the United States when they "cross the pond," they quickly disappear. Chumbawumba anyone?

In America however, the preteen crowd that embraces the New Kids/Nsync music is often overshadowed in sales by the music of rebellion that rock and roll has always been. Although badly on the wane in the past decade, there is still much to be said for the raw sound of garage music and the rage of anarchistic rock and roll. With the arrival of bands like Saliva and the monstrous selling debut of Linkin Park, rock and roll is beginning to come back to life like the proverbial Phoenix. Even the ultra rebellious punk rock movement of the late seventies, often credited to British acts such as the Clash and the Sex Pistols, was heavily influenced by the early CBGB performances of the Ramones. Rock hasn't been dead, merely hibernating.

Each week Nikki comes out and valiantly struggles to sing Bacharach and swing music with a voice that was built for the much more limited range of Pat Benatar and Joan Jett. Joannie is an atrocious singer, but she has charisma and the raw edge to spare and has managed quite a nice career of growling and raw sounding (although admittedly studio polished) rock standards. Nikki is part of that groundswell of the return of rock music.

Look at the Ramones and Kiss for example. Neither band contained a single musician or singer with talent to spare. Rock has never been about talent, it's been about anarchy. Nikki embodies that. She doesn't deserve to win the title that the show promotes, but she does deserve some credit for struggling along each week as America's most famous fish out of water. America has long rooted for the underdog and everyone from Simon on down to the obnoxious cohosts remind us dutifully of that each week. She will doubtlessly walk away from this experience with a "don't give a damn" attitude and proclaim that people just don't understand. She's wrong. Some of us do and we've voted for her as a result of it.

Tamyra has the polish and the vocal range to become a superstar. She also has the classic back-story of coming up as a black choir singer and paying the same dues that people like Tina Turner and Aretha did on their way to success. She'll go far. Kelly, the person I have had pegged as the eventual winner, is a perfect blend of paradox, and that's her strength. She is of just better than average looks with the girl next door quality that Reese Witherspoon has in spades. But when she uncorks that throaty growl of hers onstage, the viewer is hit with a visceral reaction that brings with it more than a hint of mature sexuality. It's that whole innocent and bookish librarian by day/wanton tigress by night duality, and whoever packages her would be well served to exploit the hell out of it. You can't teach it, it's a natural thing and it will carry her much further than the panache of Tamyra.