The American Idol viewers have spoken, and Ashthon Jones got the boot.

The 24-year-old retail manager from Nashville had the fewest viewer votes on Thursday. The judges decided not to save Jones after her performance of Diana Ross’ “When You Tell Me That You Love Me.” Jones said before her dismissal that she regretted not selecting a more popular Ross tune. J-Lo said she was rooting for Jones, but that wasn’t enough.

The other bottom vote-getters were Karen Rodriguez and Haley Reinhart. Randy Jackson said they were boring.  The other finalists remaining in the competition are Naima Adedapo, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Stefano Langone, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald, Thia Megia and Pia Toscano.

Ashton’s voice was strong, but maybe her personality and song choices just didn’t make her enough of a winner. I’m not exactly heartbroken that she was gone.

How do you feel about this season’s competition so far?

Now that the American Idol top 24 has been revealed, the real competition begins. The top 12 men perform Tuesday from 8 to 9:30 p.m., while the women will go on Wednesday at the same time, with a two-hour results show Thursday.

Here are a few who have caught my eye that I’ll be watching and rooting for:

Naima Adedapo

I love that her look isn’t all-American cookie-cutter. Plus she has an amazing voice.

Jacob Lusk

His voice is the most (in a good way). He could work on his stage presence but I think he will go far.

Tatyinisa Wilson

I don’t know if she’ll make top 12, but I like her. She’s the underdog!

Do you have any favorites?

His daughter Mia Tyler seems to think so. The Aerosmith front man’s doting daughter made some comments about her dad outshining the other judges.

“He’s the funniest man I know. He’s saving the show because it was kind of boring before. There’s only so many times you can watch Simon be mean to people,” she said.

Steven Tyler is no Simon Cowell but he definitely has had some of his “mean moments.” As far as him saving the show, I don’t know about that just yet. The Idol judges seem to work because they have better chemistry than the Simon, Paula and Randy combination but there’s no one judge who is out shining the other. We’re also in a weird phase right now with regard to Idol because this is the beginning, when the ratings are guaranteed to be super high. Most people are watching just to see the sad individuals who come out in droves to audition that have no business trying to sing.

Do you think Steven Tyler is saving the tenth season of Idol?

So now that we got the Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler as new American Idol judges hype out of the way, let’s talk about why we miss Simon Cowell. Don’t get me wrong, Lopez and Tyler have been entertaining but the energy that Simon Cowell brought to the show, without even trying, was amazing. The thing with Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson together is that they’re all a lot more human. And while that’s great, you still need at least one jerk–not someone who tries to hard to be sardonic but someone who is just naturally a cynic, like Simon. The new judges seem genuine enough but Simon Cowell’s absence is glaring. Here are three reasons why we miss him on the show already:
1. Smugness

Simon embodied that stereotypically British rigid smug attitude to a t, which is what made the auditions funny before they even started. As soon as contestants walked into the room you could feel him silently judging them. He never had to try to be a personality because his wry persona was enough to make his presence known in a unique way.

2. Unpredictability

While most people try to be insulting, Simon Cowell was naturally so. It’s almost like he was born that way. But what was great about that trait was that you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth, even when the singers were good. That element of suspense was a nice addition to the panel.
3. Brash Honesty

Steven Tyler has stepped up to the plate this season in terms of no holds barred honesty but he’s not as effective as Simon because it’s almost like he’s joking. Simon’s thing was he’d be honest, insulting and he meant it. Being mean isn’t always the best way to get a message across but in the case of talentless people who think they are more talented than they really are (because either they’re just delusional, or family and friends have lied to them for years), sometimes they need it straight with extra emphasis to get the point across.

What do you think of the new judges so far?

What happens when ratings get low? The ideas start flying, no matter how ridiculous or near impossible. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised that American Idol producers actually considered an all-star Idol showdown, which would bring back past idols and pit them against each other for a second chance.

Imagine if Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia had a rematch!  Maybe Tamyra Gray vs. Kelly Clarkson or any previous idols who you feel should have won but didn’t–that’s what the showdown would have been. It sounds cool in theory, but it’s not going to happen. At this point, some of the show’s non-winners, like Jennifer Hudson, are bigger than some of the winners.

The idea also didn’t make it far (not surprisingly) because the few winners who were approached weren’t into the idea of a do-over (understandably). But the concept in general was cool. I still think Tamyra Gray should have won season one, but such is life. At least Kelly Clarkson was a formidable contender.

Who would you like to see in an Idol rematch?

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All eyes will be on the new American Idol judges next month, especially Jennifer Lopez. Speculation is she’s a new millennium Paula Abdul, musically, and she’ll probably fill that same spot on the show–as in, she’ll play it safe. From the brief clip below, that theory doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

Season 10 of American Idol returns on January 19, without Simon, of course. Old-school favorites  Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson will return while  Steven Tyler rounds out the addition of new judges. How do you feel about the show’s new lineup?

Now that the new judges have been announced, American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe is alluding to other changes that have been made to the show for the 10th season. Lythgoe told TVGuide.com that the finalists will face new challenges like making a music video (they will be judged by who made the best), having to promote themselves and they will have to work with a band and dancers for an awards show-style performance.

The producers have also eliminated the round that shrinks the contestants from a group of 24 to 12, instead opting to just go straight to the top 12.

There will also be changes to theme weeks and Jimmy Iovine will be the contestants’ in-house mentor. Not everything was revealed in detail about said changes but as far as the judges, Lythgoe says the newbies, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, are taking their jobs seriously. He says that they will be truthful when it comes to performances.

“They both listen intently, and don’t make glib remarks,” he says. “They give honest critiques.”

Randy Jackson will play the bad guy now that Simon Cowell is gone.

“Randy is pulling his weight,” Lythgoe says. “He really has stepped up. He’s essentially come out of himself. He’s enjoying being in that position.”

So this probably means that in trying to be hard, Randy will step up his corny trying to be down talk with the use of the word “dawg” ad nauseam. Sounds entertaining. But I digress.

American Idol returns to Fox in January.

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Like any new job Jennifer Lopez takes on, the stories about it will never end.

This time, Jenny is rumored to be letting her manager get way too engulfed into the job she was hired to do.

By way of the New York Post:

Sources told Page Six that highly controlling [Benny] Medina is constantly on set with Lopez during filming of the show and chats with her about the contestants during breaks.

One insider even added that Medina, a former singer who has also managed the likes of Usher, Brandy and Mariah Carey, “communicates with Lopez constantly” during production.

A rep for Lopez said, “Benny is a frustrated judge and has nothing to do [with judging contestants]. Jennifer loves this job and is having a wonderful time.”

But, it seems Jennifer and her fellow new judge, Steven Tyler, don’t need Benny’s help on being opinionated. It seems they’re doing fine on their own accord.

The story adds:

“If Paula [Abdul] liked the song a contestant sang, then they got right through. For Steven and Jennifer, there’s much more thought behind it. It’s about the package: endurance, timing, how much you want it, and can you sing more than just one genre of music.”

Insert your own respective level of shade on that here.

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Despite her dismissing rumors to the contrary, Jennifer Lopez just can’t escape her diva rumors.

This time it’s talk that she and Ryan Seacrest aren’t getting along.

Here’s In Touch on the battle of the hair divas:

Jennifer Lopez is already feuding with her new American Idol co-star, host Ryan Seacrest. According to an insider, now that she’s reportedly signed a $12 million deal to be a judge, Jennifer, 41, and Ryan, 35, have begun a power struggle over everything from dressing rooms to which star gets top billing. “Ryan was the one who first suggested Jennifer, but now he’s starting to regret it, because she’s acting like she’s a much bigger star than he is,” the insider says. “Ryan knows the diva behavior is likely to get worse before it gets better. Producers are trying to get them to make peace, but their egos are both pretty big.”

In other Jenny Lo news, dismissed American Idol contestant Frenchie Davis tweeted her thoughts about J.Lo’s new role in the shew.

She wrote: “wait. jlo..critiquing singers?!…..hmmm…maybe my fat ass should teach a fitness class”

I love Frenchie, but hey, if Paula Abdul could do it so can the 00s answer to her.

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Now that the new American Idol judges have officially been announced (Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler plus Randy Jackson), what next? For starters, don’t expect either of the new judges to be as mean or wisecracking as Simon Cowell. And in case you’re wondering, the “diva demands” made by J-Lo that allegedly caused Fox to rescind their invite to her becoming a judge are supposedly not true.

“There was so much rubbish out there,” producer Nigel Lythgoe told Entertainment Weekly. “We heard she only liked yellow M & Ms! There are so many stories.” Fox’s Darnell also chimed in: “The deal was not tough. There were no diva demands. It was easy and comfortable. It was all about schedule and dates! They were typical deals, to be frank.”

Both Lopez and Tyler claim to be huge fans of the show and say that watching the contestants go through certain highs and lows reminds them of their own careers.

“I believe in tough love but I don’t think I can ever be cruel to another artist,” added Lopez. “There are definitely better ways to say things.”

We all know J-Lo has gotten a lot of flack about her voice, so this should be interesting. I just hope she doesn’t become Paula Abdul two, even though she’s already pretty darn close.

In addition to knew judges, another change made by producers is that contestants will no longer be asked to go outside of their comfort zone. If they’re a country singer, then hat’s what they will sing. If they’re R&B then that’s what they’ll sing and so on. The contestants will also sing songs from certain decades as opposed to specific artists, so no more Elvis Night.

So there you have it, all that long drawn out drama for nothing. The judges were leaked months ago, talk about bad secrets and the changes don’t sound that interesting (sometimes it’s fun to see someone sing outside their drama) but that doesn’t mean we should count the show out yet. The first auditions are always entertaining and hopefully the top contestants this year will make up for lackluster talent from the previous seasons. We’ll find out in January!

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