After every episode, we assess how American Idol’s guest judges have fared. Towards the end, we’ll see if they did Paula Abdul‘s old slot justice. Or the show justice. Or Simon Cowell’s soon-to-be-vacated slot justice. You get the idea.
Name: Shania Twain
Best known as: Canadian country hitmaker who says we’re still the one
Audition city: Chicago
How did she judge? Did Shania take a page off Kara’s playbook? And no, not necessarily because they resemble each other. Shania’s fond of constructive criticism, tossing in a few technical terms (bottom end!) and being quite encouraging. She passes off as a warm, encouraging judge. If I was auditioning for Idol, I’d want her to be there, rather than a freezing Posh or an intimidating Mary.
Did she get along with the judges? I think she had fun. Remember how she begged for Randy to send Paige Dechausse to Hollywood? It’s also amazing that all the other judges made a connection with her much quicker than the other two guest judges. In fact, as the episode went on I thought I saw Paula Abdul on the judging panel. Really. She also looked a lot like Paula Abdul, especially after that “bottom end” liner.
Nasty or nice? Nice, for the most part. She really does pass off as warm and fuzzy, much like… you guessed it: Paula, without the very loopy bits. It’s interesting how she got the balance between authoritative and nurturing just right. She knows what she’s saying, and she says it without being as snarky as Simon, or as bored as Posh.
The Paula Abdul rating: 9/10
The Simon Cowell rating: 8/10
Anything else? Simon, if you still haven’t found judges for the American X Factor, please take note of the answer that was sitting right beside you during two days in Chicago. Give Cheryl Cole a break and give Shania Twain a job. Puh-leeeease. Thanks.
The report cards so far:
Victoria Beckham
Mary J. Blige
(Image courtesy of Fox)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
