Pat’s Analysis for Idol’s “New Simon”

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 | by Pat's Picks

It was nice to see American Idol, the show, back on TV last night after a summer and fall where news about the show centered on contract talks with the hosts and judges. But with Simon’s announcement that this will be his last season, producers have a near-impossible task ahead to replace him. And the key qualification isn’t the one everybody thinks of first.

In my new column on Mediaite, I look at what Simon brings to the show, and make the case that his bluntness isn’t nearly as important to the show as his other strength: his accuracy in identifying the winners.