[collie1228]

We really love A.I. and look forward to each season. In fact, I play in a golf league on Tuesday evenings, and I always leave the 19th hole early (much to my fellow league members' surprise) so I can catch A.I. at 8:00PM. But I'm afraid that the first few episodes of the current season have left me cold. The talent has not been shown (but I understand that there is a lot more talent there - especially from the female side - that the producers have been "keeping under wraps), and the production has been abysmal. They are giving way too much airtime to train wrecks like the crying kid from Malone, NY, the bikini girl and to that queen of the drama queens, Tatiana. They are all an embarrassment. Also, have you noticed that before many commercial breaks, they show you what is going to happen in the next segment? This is a disease that has spread across a lot of "reality" shows, and it's an insult to the viewers' intelligence. I only watched a half-hour of Wednesday's two-hour final selection show, as I just couldn't stand to watch and listen to the "judges" trying to inject some suspense into their decision announcements to the contestants. Sorry Randy, Paula and new girl, not one of you is an actor, and you don't have the ability to create suspense. You come across as amateurish and I find myself saying "Get to it and stop the bull!" I actually feel sorry for some of the emotioinal contestants who have to listen to this unprofessional behavior from the judges. If this is what the producers have come up with to increase their audience, they are going to be sorely mistaken. I'm afraid that American Idol has jumped the shark (remember Fonzie?). I'll watch the first real show next week, but if it's anything like the earlier 2009 shows, I'm gone. I really hate to sound like a grump, but . . . . . I guess I am one. Has anyone else been as disappointed as me?