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To use a phrase from judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and L.A. Reid, “l have had to put everything under consideration. And I have made a decision” about “The X Factor.”
It wasn’t that hard really.
I’m done.
This has nothing to do with Cowell’s somewhat surprising ouster of Orchard Park’s Caitlin Koch Tuesday night and everything to do with what one reader referred to as the bloated pace of the Fox program. It makes playoff baseball seem fast-paced.
I say “somewhat surprising” when referring to Koch’s ouster because there is nothing totally surprising about reality series anymore. I had written previously that I suspected that Cowell may have been talking about Koch in a preview of Tuesday’s episode when he said he was cutting someone everyone assumed would be moving on.
Cowell effusively praised Koch Tuesday and harshly criticized 20-year Tiah Tolliver before making his decision on whether to give either one a spot in his Final Four. Each judge got four spots.
Before Tolliver got one of the four spots, Cowell told Koch “I probably spent the most time going through you than anybody else.” He added that she was “beautiful” and agreed with her that she connected with the song that she sang at his house on the previous show.
“I’ve made a decision,” said Cowell. “It’s bad news. You didn’t make it.”
“Oh my god,” responded Koch.
“I’m really genuinely sorry,” added Cowell.
Koch thanked him and Cowell added out of her earshot “I didn’t like doing that.”
Koch handled it like a pro and told the show’s British host, Steve Jones: “It is just not my time.”
Well before that scene played out, Koch reflected on what she would do if she was eliminated before the live round of 16,
“If I don’t make it, I’ll go home to Buffalo, New York,” said Koch, “and continue to play rugby and continue singing to nobody in a bar.”
Undoubtedly, the bar will be more crowded than usual. And according to one of my Twitter followers, sometimes singers eliminated in the British version of the show come back the following season. So it could happen to Koch.
Koch’s departure was one of 16 played out Tuesday in an interminably long program that taxed people’s patience.
I switched back and forth between “X,” the Buffalo Sabres win in Montreal and the Republican presidential debate anchored by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “The X Factor” was the least entertaining of the three programs. Until the Republicans “make a decision” on who is going to run against President Obama, it is going to be fun watching Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Herman Cain bash each other.
It appears that Western New Yorkers already have made their decision on “The X Factor.”
Would you believe that Erie County Executive Chris Collins and his November re-election opponent Mark Poloncarz almost had as large an audience here for last Thursday’s debate on WNED as Cowell’s overhyped program on WUTV?
The debate averaged about a 3.0 rating for 45 minutes, in range of the “Factor’s” 3.6 here at the same time. That’s a good number for a political debate, a lousy one for a heavily-hyped reality show. Things didn’t improve for the “Factor” on Sunday night, either. It had about the same rating.
Perhaps the ratings will improve when the live competition featuring the top 17 — Cowell added a 17th performer after admitting he made a mistake – starts.
But the pace of this bloated show will have to pick up considerably to get viewers back.
* The line of the night Tuesday came from NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams (see above). Noting that for the first time in history a majority of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, Williams cracked: “(That’s) what you might call an all-time high.”
pergament@msn.com

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