BWW Recap: IDOL Says Goodbye, Did America Get It Right?

The first real elimination show of AMERICAN IDOL's thirteenth season opened with a mash-up of "Counting Stars" by One Republic and "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons that sounded oddly auto-tuned, and looked obviously lip-synced.

Now, I am as big of a fan of IDOL history as you will find (I still think that Adam Lambert's "Ring of Fire" is one of the best talent show performances of all-time), but I have no soft spot for the nostalgia that "The Dogfather" Randy Jackson brings to the proceedings. His critiques (edited perfectly to make it appear as if he foresaw all of last night's problems, yet was unable to prevent them from happening) added nothing to the contestants' performances, nor to the show as a whole. I would much rather have had a second song from reigning idol Candice Glover than Randy's drivel. Sorry, is that too harsh?

Last season wasn't exactly a banner year for IDOL, but the top-three of Candice, Kree Harrison, and Angie Miller was incredibly strong. And tonight, Candice again proved why she is a worthy successor to the thrown originally occupied by Kelly Clarkson. From the first two weeks of solo performances, there does not appear to be any contestants that can compare to Candice's pipes. Hopefully that will change as these young singers get used to the stage, crowd, and cameras.

Also on tonight's show, Keith introduced us to a British folk/indie singer named Jake Bugg who performed his completely adequate song "Me and You." Apparently this season, the judges and Randy will be "playing taste maker" and bringing up-and-coming artists to the IDOL stage for elimination night performances. However, based on their taste in the top-13, I'm not sure that this is a good idea.

On a complete non sequitur, how distracting and bizarre are the graphics on the giant screen behind the performers? That butterfly behind Candice made me think we were in for a straight-to-DVD sequel to THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES.

Anyway, now to the eliminations:

Eliminated
Kristen O'Connor

And rightly so, the judges did not use their one save for the season.

What do you think of this season's first elimination? Did America get it right? If not, who should have gone home? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. Check back next Wednesday for my recap of the Top-12 Performance show! And I really do love this show, I am hoping that next week gives more reasons for smiles than snark.