Paula, I feel your pain.
The "nice" American Idol judge (AKA the "nutso" American Idol judge) gets lots of flak for being overly kind to even the most unlistenable contestants. But as one of three judges last night for GaYbor Karaoke Idol II, the entertaining weekly competition at Streetcar Charlie's in Ybor, I now realize how tough it is to tell someone to his/her face that singing might not be the best career choice if you can't carry a tune for shit.
Actually, it wasn't that much of a problem that we were unable to tap our inner Simon Cowell (even though I know that my fellow judges, Albert the Realtor and Tara the International Woman of Mystery, definitely have some Simon in 'em). The five contestants all showed merit, and a few were just downright good — particularly the winner, Yarik, whose awesome range and rhythmic precision suggest he should get himself to an AI audition as soon as possible (plus, he kind of looks like Taye Diggs).
This article appears in May 20-26, 2009.