It’s been Steven Tyler’s season so far on “American Idol” – the facial expressions, the outfits, the basic gifts of decency and wisdom. Sometimes it’s been tough to remember that the show’s other new judge, Jennifer Lopez, was meant to be the bigger draw. Frank Micelotta/Fox Jennifer Lopez during an American Idol session in January.
A multimedia star with a far higher profile than Mr Tyler, Ms Lopez is a radiant presence. But while her hair and wardrobe budget must be 10 times her fellow judges’ – and worth it – thus far, she’s appeared to be purposefully downplaying. With her seated in the center chair, there are echoes of Paula Abdul, but Ms. Lopez is far more centered, and far more insightful.
And measured, too. Often she says little to contestants, largely the ones who don’t deserve a full assessment. But when she commits to a critique, it’s direct and refreshing, a combination of industry savvy and emotional comfort. On Wednesday night’s show, mercifully the last audition episode of the season, Ms Lopez was at her calm, thoughtful best.
“I love the way you were planted in the ground,” she told Julie Zorrilla, one of the night’s best singers. “It says that you have confidence and that you’re a performer.” She was moved the most by James Durbin, a young father who has already grappled with diagnoses of Tourette’s syndrome and Asperger’s syndrome, as well as the death of his father from a drug overdose.
Mr Durbin gave an Adam Lambert-like audition, from the freakishly muscular voice right down to the fauxhawk and the vest hanging loose and open over a T-shirt.
“You go away when you sing,” Ms. Lopez told him affectionately. “I got that sense you sing from a really different place than a lot of people we see.” Later, she declared, “You sing from where you’re supposed to sing from – from feeling, from heart, from your soul, from the need to feel and make others feel.”
It’s a fundamental of great artistry, that the ability to connect is intimately tied to the need for connection, though it’s rarely articulated this succinctly. There may be a storm brewing next to Ms. Lopez, but she’s remaining steady.
