The Fight Club;
Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and Paula Abdul stop bickering long enough to sound
off on anger management, sympathy votes, and who they think will win.
Dalton Ross; Randy Jackson; Simon Cowell; Paula Abdul
Entertainment Weekly,
July 19, 2002
Turn up the spotlights, flip on the psychedelic background video, and get your
critical knives sharpened, because it's time to place the American Idol judges
center stage for a gutbusting roundtable interview.
Simon, why so angry?
SIMON Well, it's not so much angry, it's passionate. I really do care that we
get the right winner out of this. You know, they're gonna sign to my record
label [BMG], and I don't want to be stuck with someone I don't want to be stuck
with.
PAULA [Sarcastically] Yeah, that never happens in the record business.
As a record executive you've had lots of hit records, including one by the
Teletubbies, so let me ask you, do you see the next Tinky Winky in this bunch?
SIMON Looking at some of the clowns that are getting through in the top 10, I
think Tinky Winky is very appropriate.
On that note, it's pretty obvious what you guys are looking for, but the voting
public has surprised you with a few of their selections. What do you think the
viewers are looking for in a contestant?
RANDY Look at Ryan Starr. My daughter who's almost 13, she and her friends love
her. Why do they love her? Not because of her vocal talent or whatever reason we
were looking for. They liked her because they thought she was cool.
PAULA Thank God the camera is not on us sometimes when we do hear the end
result, because our jaws drop.
SIMON It's all gone a bit mad as far as I'm concerned, and I've got a return
flight booked, ready to leave if the wrong thing happens. I will be really,
really upset if the right person doesn't win this competition. You call a show
American Idol. It's not called Boy With the Most Sympathetic Story Idol. It's
about talent! And I do get frustrated.
So, you obviously think those were sympathy votes for Jim and A.J., but how far
can sympathy votes carry a contestant?
PAULA I gotta believe with the final 10 that America is gonna be responsible and
vote the talent in.
RANDY I hope so, but I'm a little worried, because if the public picks someone
who's really rank and bad to represent the best in America, then it's all
rubbish.
SIMON You know, I look at these guys, and I can understand to a point why they
got voted through--they've got very interesting stories. One has got deaf
parents and he signs to them and hugs everyone. The other one thanks God a
million times throughout his performance and is gonna donate the money to the
Third World or his mommy and burst into tears. Of course it's a sympathy vote!
Is it talent? No, I don't think so.
Paula, do you ever find yourself maybe sugarcoating your critiques a bit to
offset Simon's and Randy's often more brutal responses?
PAULA I don't think I sugarcoat. This is just who I am, and I am the direct
example of having gone through that. Those contestants know that I've been there
before. They're standing on a platform to hopefully be accepted, but more often
than not rejected. And you have Simon to take care of the crushing, and I just
feel that I'll be honest, but I'll handle it with dignity and grace, because I'm
a girl. I'm the girliest girl of them all. But sitting in between these two,
I've learned to be a dude, too.
Simon, why are you always dogging cohost Ryan Seacrest about his wardrobe?
SIMON Well, have you seen it? He wore a see-through blouse! The words fashion
and disaster come to mind.
What about his partner Brian Dunkleman, who once said to a contestant
"Miami in the hizouse." Who the hell is this guy?
RANDY Brian's cool. He's a comedian. He's just cracking jokes.
SIMON Well, that's debatable. I think he and Ryan are like the Robin and the
Hood of the show. They're the protectors of the weak, aren't they? They're quite
amusing, really. They don't know what they're talking about when it comes to
judging talent.
RANDY Yeah, I can remember Ryan crying with A.J. when he won.
SIMON I see Ryan crying quite a lot. It's probably to do with the fact that his
hairdresser hasn't turned up on time or something.
Okay, now the big question is, who's gonna win? Predictions?
SIMON At the moment, it's quite obvious that a lot of people think Justin [Guarini]
could win this competition. I'm not gonna say who, but I think there are one or
two dark horses, and this is gonna be a lot closer than people think. And
personality at this point will play a huge part in this, I'm telling you.
RANDY And that's the star thing the public gets into and taps into and sees. And
Justin's clearly a star.
PAULA You can't deny it. He's got that whole thing, but you're gonna see,
there's more than one.
Finally, and this is a bit awkward, but I'm thinking of a career change and was
wondering if you guys could critique my singing voice if I sang you a few bars?
RANDY: Bring it on, dog!
Straight up now tell me, do you really want to love me forever (oh oh oh)/Or am
I caught in a hit-and-run/Straight up now tell me is it gonna be you and me
together (oh oh oh)/Are you just having fun?
RANDY: That was absolutely horrible.
PAULA: I'm speechless.
SIMON: Okay, well, congratulations. You just made Paula Abdul sound like
Pavarotti. You're a great interviewer, but you're a lousy singer.