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American Idol
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The newly revived season of American Idol has been a true mixed bag since its return last week. With its social-media-friendly “Wig” moments, Idol is having more time in the spotlight now than it did for the final four or five seasons of its initial run. But the show itself is frustratingly unchanged from where we left off with it, with the same cycle of soft-focus background clips followed by short auditions, after which the judges (mostly) fawn or (rarely) criticize. Embattled host Ryan Seacrest has been minimized, which has been a relief, but there isn’t much new about the new American Idol to truly get excited about. All that, and it’s still getting beat by NBC’s The Voice in the ratings.
But if there’s one element of the new Idol that makes it worth watching, it’s judge Katy Perry. Which might sound ironic considering her $25 million price tag and flirty antics with the contestants have raised the ire of some and called for wanton (and fairly unfounded) speculation that she’s the reason for the lower numbers. This perception of Perry as an albatross around the show’s neck is put to rest by even a cursory pass at the actual series, however. Perry is the absolute star of the new Idol; she’s fully engaged with the contestants — which, yes, includes flirting with the parade of cute farm boys this show always trots out, the same ones the old Idol would bring out for the express purpose of flirting with the viewers. So really, Perry is just cutting out the middle-man — and she’s refreshingly frank with some of them.
It would be nice if the judging panel as a whole were a bit less forgiving, of course. A random sampling of the show reveals moments like on Monday night, when auditioner Kenedee Rittenhouse was less than impressive with a Carrie Underwood tune. Perry was upfront with her critique and even called Rittenhouse’s bluff when she offered to cover Perry’s own “Firework.” “Sing ‘Firework,'” Perry clapped back, “because I can barely sing ‘Firework.'” It was a bracingly real moment, only it was quickly deflated by the judges (Perry included) letting Rittenhouse off the hook after a scrape-y attempt to hit that song’s high notes.
That’s been the double-edged sword of American Idol in 2018. But there is no question that Katy Perry is the star. She’s got that millennial “all eyes on me” thing happening, where every moment has to be about her in some way. But honestly, that’s a luxury we should probably grant to the person who gave us “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream.”
In honor of that, we’ve put together a list of Perry’s weirdest and most wonderful moments from the first handful of Idol episodes, to commemorate her auspicious start. And, yes, she did accidentally flash the camera while falling down that one time, but we’re going to focus on the moments that were more firmly under Perry’s control.
"Wig"
This was the moment that went viral before American Idol even premiered, as Katy and contestant Noah Davis had a moment of shared vernacular before his audition. What does “wig” mean? NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, THAT’S WHAT? IT’S JUST FOR KATY AND NOAH.
Okay, but for real, it’s not that complicated: “wig,” like “my wig just got snatched,” like “this moment is so intense it has snatched the wig that, were I a drag queen like we should all aspire to be, would be sitting atop my head.” Mostly, it was just Katy saying “I get this. I get you.” It’s easy to snark at Perry’s whispered shibboleth in this moment, but think back to the glory days of American Idol, when Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson held sway and every male contestant who was even a little bit effeminate was subject to heaps of snark and scorn and barely coded digs about how they wouldn’t be marketable. How honestly refreshing was it for Katy Perry to spot one of her people a mile away, look that boy straight in the eye, and tell him, “I see you. I get you. You’re welcome here.” It’s honestly kind of beautiful?
Also, the real gag was that Noah could seriously sing! He blew the doors off of Rihanna’s “Stay,” and he’ll be a real intriguing one to watch in the Hollywood round.
First Kiss
Another great moment where Katy Perry made sure that the gay auditioners of 2018 felt welcome. …Oh, yes, sorry, Benjamin Glaze is waiting for his first girlfriend. Our mistake. Anyway, this moment kicked up a whole lot of controversy (which American Idol must just HATE!) and blustering about Perry sneaking Benjamin his first kiss. It’s like she STOLE his LIP VIRGINITY. Or something. REVERSE #METOO! Or something. Anyway, it got people talking.
Sock Hands
Zach D’Onofrio’s deal was that he talked like the Squeaky Voiced Teen on The Simpsons but he sang out like Sinatra. It was a wild bit of cognitive dissonance that Katy could only cope with by putting socks on her hands (and later dancing with Zach).
Toe Ticket
Look, some people are into feet. No judgments. No scandals. Sometimes a guy likes a nice-looking foot, is all. Auditioner William Casanova made the mistake of telling the judges that his day job involved selling women’s shoes, and while his dedication to his brand as a smooth-talking ladies man was truly admirable, his brand awareness was no match for Katy Perry’s. You lay down a two-pair of a quirk like “works in the ladies’ shoes department,” trust and believe that Katy Perry will drop a full house on your ass, and by a full house, we mean “bragging about how she overcame childhood nasty-foot, is now an internet foot-fave, and then delivers William his golden ticket between her toes.” You think you can compete for attention with Katy Perry? We are here to assure you that you CANNOT.
#InstaPoop
Katy Perry can even steal the spotlight from a cute little puppy! Truly she can do it all. When one auditioner shows up with a Rascal Flatts song in her heart and a be-sweatered little pup scampering around her feet, everything looks set up to be adorable. And then that adorable pooch starts dropping some adorable deuces all over the audition floor. The judges freak, the poor stage managers start looking for disinfectant, and the girl who was about to sing, bless her heart, keeps trucking along. But none showed more perseverance than Katy Perry, who saw a shitting dog and knew what she had to do: pull out her iPhone to take some pics. Truly the queen of all media.
