An open letter to Simon ...
Question: An open letter to
Simon Cowell: All right, after watching your show, it may be debatable whether
America's Got Talent, but I feel it's safe to say (to use one of your favorite superlatives) that you, Mr. Cowell, have
absolutely no talent whatsoever at producing an intelligent, entertaining show. You have so far taken two excellent concepts (
American Inventor and
America's Got Talent) and managed to trivialize them, in addition to boring the pants off us with mundane music, endless repetition, uninteresting judges and irritating hosts. (Am I the only one in America who finds
Regis Philbin as welcome as a cheese grater on raw knuckles?) The finale of
America's Got Talent was not only excruciating, but embarrassing as well (e.g., Regis "singing" and
Bianca Ryan in shock once she was named the winner). Simon, either stop underestimating the intelligence of the American audience or overestimating our tolerance for crap, or you will be voted off the island!
Answer: But what do you really think, Rebecca? While I certainly agree with your assessment of
Talent's dreadfully produced finale, and especially the inept handling of the announcement of the winner (powerful pipes in a child with debatable star presence, who cares?), trashing Simon so personally without acknowledging the genius of
American Idol (which is cheesy in all the right ways, usually) seems a bit extreme. And who can say how his
Celebrity Duets will do starting next week? That could be a sleeper hit as well.