"Frank Sinatra" night on "American Idol"

I must admit that I only saw the last part of the last singer's performance, followed by the judges' critiques of it, and the little end-of-show summary clips of the other songs...

Yikes.

If indeed the last guy was the best of the night, it must have been one helluva long hour.

At his best, Sinatra sang simply, while letting the words tell the story of the song, and that approach is just not the Idol way. (I understand that is what Harry Connick was telling them; I don't think anyone was listening.)

It's great that Nancy and Tina are keeping their father's name out there, but somebody's gotta to tell these singers, to quote T.S. Eliot's Prufrock:

"That is not what I meant at all./That is not it, at all"

And not to seem too shallow, but, if you're going to wear a necktie in a performance, especially for ONE bloody song, don't loosen it. And tuck in your shirt! (That goes double for you too, Michael Buble.)

I'm not a fan of "American Idol" because I don't like...

...what it's done to the general perception of what good singing is (i.e., you're only good now if you are able to perform a myriad of vocal pyrotechnics -- Damn the melody! Full speed ahead! -- instead of able to perform simply and tunefully a well-written song).

But the little I do watch of it only emphasizes to me repeatedly how much Simon will be missed when he leaves after this season -- since he's the only one who is willing to tell the truth.

That said, doesn't the man own any shirts?