'Idol' chatter: Successful routine makes show tolerable

I don't know if there's a connection, but just as "American Idol" seems to be getting more tiresome to much of its audience, I've found it a lot more tolerable this season.

Understand, it's not that I think the talent is so awesome. Quite the contrary: The lame bunch of finalists has clearly triggered "Idol's" declining Nielsen ratings.

And, no, it's not that I no longer believe "Idol" contributes to the slow death of the music industry as we know it (make that "knew it"). I still largely blame it for the major labels' lack of initiative in finding and developing new talent.

Yet neither can I any longer declare "Idol" to be the worst show on TV. It does what it does and it does it fairly well, by reality-TV standards. While I can still rail against its relentless product placement -- from the judges' supersize cola cups to the contestants' music-video auto ads -- even I have to admit that just when it seems to be on autopilot Paula Abdul will melt down or forget who's sung what or how many songs they've sung.

Perhaps that's just the thing, however. Even "Idol's" more or less spontaneous moments this season have seemed rote, and combined with the lack of real breakout talent it's been debilitating.

"Idol," which concludes at 7 p.m. today and in what's sure to be a bloated two-hour finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday on WFLD Channel 32, is still the gorilla of the prime-time TV schedule, atop the national ratings. Now, however, it's a 500-pound gorilla rather than an 800-pound beast, and my guess is the competition will not be cowering in the corner, but climbing all over its back come next year.

The caustic Simon Cowell has reportedly dictated that changes need to be made before the decay is irreversible, and even Entertainment Weekly has chimed in favoring the sacking of Cowell's fellow judges Abdul and Randy Jackson. But it's very hard for a top-ranked show to alter things before it needs to. Unless Abdul goes into rehab between now and the end of the year, or both she and Jackson stumble on a genuine, self-sustaining recording career (and no, her Jackson-produced single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" doesn't count, appropriate as the title might be), they'll no doubt be back.

Cowell also reportedly favors dropping the minimum age from 16 to 14, but that would only worsen the path the series is already on.

For the most part, the six previous "Idol" champions have been embarrassments. Attempts to launch Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks as established talents have flopped, and what records they sell -- along with Clay Aiken and other "Idol" also-rans -- have largely been due to "Idol's" own self-promotion. Jennifer Hudson might have an Oscar, but ask yourself, would you go out and buy an album by her on the day it was released?

Don't even talk to me about Daughtry. Give me Los Campesinos!

I would have said Fantasia Barrino was only a borderline embarrassment until her performance on last week's penultimate elimination removed all doubt.

No, "Idol" works best -- that is, embellishes its own image -- by functioning as a farm team, capturing young talent and then taking credit (justifiably or not) for its development, as with Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.

For that reason, my money's on 17-year-old David Archuleta Wednesday night. Yes, he has the stage manner of a freshly housebroken puppy (at least he no longer soils the floor when he gets excited), but his voice is nice enough, and he's the show's only hope this season to produce a genuinely interesting artist down the road. By contrast, David Cook is a merely proficient accident riding his one shot at fame -- a younger, scruffier, pre-graying Taylor Hicks.

At this point, "Idol" is most likely to be a victim of its own success. Its reliance on the great American pop songbook means it doesn't really recruit unique talents. It looks for people who sing Motown or the Beatles well (then overmatches them when it comes to Andrew Lloyd Webber or even Neil Diamond). As much as Randy and Paula kept proclaiming this the best bunch of "Idol" finalists in the show's seven-year history, it simply hasn't turned out to be the case.

The only compelling story surrounding "Idol" this year was whether Kristy Lee Cook got her hocked horse back. After she was eliminated, I sort of lost interest. It wasn't a horse race, it was a Tiger Beat beauty pageant, but I guess that's pretty much the way it's always been.

In the air

Remotely interesting: PBS will bring back "The Electric Company" with new episodes in January. If you missed it the first time, WTTW Channel 11 airs the fine "Frontline" episode "Growing up Online" at 9 p.m. today.

AMC has renewed "Breaking Bad." … NBC has reportedly replaced Tom Fontana with David Eick of "Battlestar Galactica" and "Bionic Woman" as executive producer of "The Philanthropist." That is not a fair trade. … The complete series of "Square Pegs" is out today on DVD.

End of the dial: "The Randi Rhodes Show" has been picked up by XM satellite radio.

Lombard's Kelly Campbell is the new Loop Rock Girl doing promotions for WLUP 97.9-FM.