'American Idol' hits a sour note in season 7

Newsday - Long Island, NY, USA - ' American Idol": Can you think of any two words that spark greater debate - with the exception of " Mets" and "Yankees?" This season, ratings are down (a bit) and passions are high. Is this the most boring season ever, or is this the best? TV editor Andy Edelstein and TV writer Verne Gay square off over the most Important Question on TV (at least for this moment).

I used to be an "American Idol" fan, eagerly looking forward to each week's shows. But now I watch it solely because of professional obligation. And that's no way to watch TV.

This season, the show has become, to borrow one of Simon Cowell's pet put-downs, "predictable." And that's putting it charitably.

After seven seasons, the judges' shticks - spacey Paula, crabby Simon, incoherent Randy - are getting way tired. Maybe for one week, they should switch personalities. Hearing the word "dawg" come out of Paula instead of Randy might actually waken me from my stupor. In fact, to keep from getting bored, I watch the show with a legal pad in hand, tracking the number of times Randy says "dude" during the hour. That's become the highlight of my "Idol" viewing.

The decision to expand the results show to an hour really pushed me over the edge. Please explain those questions from viewers? What purpose do they serve except to kill time? The half-hour results show was already fluff-filled, but there is now more padding in this hour than you'd find at a dozen Sleepy's.

Others have said this about previous seasons, but this year's audition rounds really were way too long. It felt like watching spring training games that stretched on until July. By the time we arrived at the top 12, I felt as if I never wanted to watch the show again.