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Saturday, July 14, 2012

Steven Tyler Leaves 'American Idol,' But What Did He Really Bring to the Table? (Opinion)

As a TV judge, the Aerosmith frontman pocketed millions of dollars, raised his profile and saw a sizable boost in music sales from his two-season tenure on the Fox series. But THR's music editor questions what the show -- or its contestants -- got out of it.


Steven Tyler PR 2012 P
The news was a foregone conclusion to some, a surprise to others and a welcome delight for the thousands of Aerosmith fans aching for new material. And that’s the main reason for the two-season judge’s departure: more time to spend with his band (a tour is planned to coincide with new album Music From Another Dimension, due out Nov. 6) and fewer hours wasted with innocuous comments like, “That was beautiful” and “The road to success is always under construction.” And I say “wasted” purposefully -- with sobriety pun not intended -- because for the past two years, Tyler’s star power hasn’t offered all that much to the show’s sagging ratings (down 25 percent from 2011) and, outside of season 10’s Lauren Alaina and saved finalists Casey Abrams and Jessica Sanchez, didn’t seem to impact the contestants much either.
Sure, there were moments when the Aerosmith frontman put his pedigree on display, offering a quick anecdote about “back in the day,” and the occasional nonsensical Tyler-ism was good for a laugh, but did he impart wisdom on these wide-eyed hopefuls desperate for their next break? Not really. More credit is due to Jennifer Lopez, and this season even Randy Jackson, who figured out a way to criticize tactfully without fluffy compliments of no consequence.

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