Remember when American Idol had real star power?

It's been a while.

Having American Idol Rewind airing at the same time as this season has really driven home the point that there has been no natural combination of vocal talent and performance ability on any season that matches one Justin Guarini.

Oh, there's been what Alan Greenspan would call "irrational exuberance" about various folks. None match the "wow" that Justin brought from the first time he stepped on the stage, all the way through a finale where, even as the producers manipulated it against him, he still managed to shine.

This is how you can identify a true star.

Justin Guarini's audition singing Sittin on the Dock of the Bay


Justin's "guide you my way" in Ribbon in the Sky provided the first spontaneous "umph" moment on American Idol, one every singer has been desperate to copy ever since.

Justin Guarini's Top 30 performance of "Ribbon in the Sky."



Off with the pretenders, we want to see the king again.


updated to make the videos work better

Revolution Shmevolution

CBS Sunday Morning did a story this morning on The Grammys, American Idol, and how the music industry is faring. The story featured Idol's Randy Jackson doing his usual "blah-blah-blah" about how Idol has revolutionized the music industry. "The people choose what they want to hear."

Not quite, Randy. It's true that Idol has made life easier for a few music executives, specifically those at RCA who would otherwise have to do the work of breaking new artists, but Idol has not changed the music the people hear, just the identities of the people singing it.

The singers who have had the most commercial and radio success post-Idol (Clarkson, Underwood, and most recently, DAUGHTRY) are also the singers who fit most seamlessly into existing Top 40/Country radio formats. One could argue that Idol has actually increased the emphasis on commerciality of music, as people like Ken Barnes at USA Today obsessively report on a weekly basis about the number of "units" (tm Clive Davis) each current major release has moved. Former Idols like Justin who have a unique artistic voice merit either no mention or dismissive comment because their music can't be tracked on a chart.

Yet, compare RCA's "Justin Guarini" to Justin's self-produced "Stranger Things Have Happened." If Idol really revolutionized music, you'd be hearing the fresh sounds of the latter album when you turn on your radio. But of course, you don't.


If you want to talk revolution, consider the only real reason to tune into the Grammy Awards tonight - the reunion of The Police. It reminds us of another time popular music needed a kick in the derriere. We're talking about the post-disco malaise that was pop music in the late 70's. Outside of Michael Jackson in his creative heyday, pop music had fallen into predictability, following the same safe formula with singers and bands that sounded largely alike.

Then came "ROX-anne." New Wave hit. Popular music got vibrant again. For a while, anyway, until that, too, played itself out. The history of rap and hip-hop tells a similar story.

Idol, being ultimately about shortcutting the A&R (artist and repertoire) process, never had a shot of making that significant an impact on music. For that, we have to wait while the next new wave works its way up through the grassroots process.

Can we ask them to hurry up?

A Cultural Icon

Every male singer who croons is compared to Frank Sinatra.

Every sitcom with an ensemble of young actors is compared to Friends.

No one after them can ever be an original again.

Every guy with a soft curly 'fro is compared to Justin Guarini.

Justin is a cultural icon.

Here are a few comparisons we've seen in just the last week or so.

Chris Sligh, American Idol hopeful:

Yeah, we don't think so. Nice try, though, Chris.


Robin Lopez, Stanford University basketball player:

photo credit: maxpreps.com

Only if you close your eyes and squint real hard.


Corbin Bleu, star of High School Musical and Jump In:

photo credit: IMDB.com

If Justin had worn the 'fro when he was a teenager, this one might almost be a match.

Keep trying, guys. Someone might get it right.

Nah, it's already been done.

photo: Steward Volland, TV Guide