
(Paul Natkin/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
(Paul Natkin/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
Following a barely noticeable two-year hiatus that may or may not have registered with you as a hiatus, AMERICAN IDOL returns Sunday night with a new network, a newly controversial host and three new judges, one of whom is making LEBRON JAMES money and none of whom is SIMON COWELL. There are questions and doubts, not completely unlike the doubts expressed when the show debuted in 2002. "Idol" produced one of its two memorable winners in that first season, before the show itself became a hit. For most of its run, America watched talented singers compete for the chance to be pop also-rans. But as with all TV talent shows, it was the judges, not the contestants, who mattered in the end. RANDY's bark. Simon's bite. "Idol" didn't have a noticeable influence on pop so much as it did a good job of reflecting a certain strain of technically confident, adult-leaning pop (and country) through the first decade of the 21st century, while having a massive influence on reality television. THE VOICE, which now claims "Idol"'s greatest winner as a judge, disrupted both the format—its smartest innovation was to turn the judges into competitors—and the music, by seeking out (slightly) more contemporary sounds. "The Voice" hasn't done any better, though, at producing pop stars. Which, as everyone knew before they signed up for this, is hard. Reality TV has done a better job grooming U.S. presidents than pop singers. There may be a reason for that... Someone please write a 3000-word essay on the massive vessel of cool that is ALICIA KEYS on "The Voice." I promise it will be the top story in the next day's MusicREDEF... Before she was wrinkling time, AVA DUVERNAY was wrinkling rhymes... DONALD GLOVER and ATLANTA's impression of what the inside of a streaming music company looks like... To celebrate the label's 30th anniversary, KEXP is playing every SUB POP record ever... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from DAVID BYRNE, LIL YACHTY, YOUNG FATHERS, THE SKULL ECLIPSES, LOGIC, JEREMIH, JUDAS PRIEST, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, BRAD MEHLDAU, MOOSE BLOOD, YFN LUCCI, EDITORS, ALBERT HAMMOND JR., BRETT NAUCKE, NAP EYES, MINISTRY, OF MONTREAL, LIZA ANNE, the A WRINKLE IN TIME soundtrack and more finds from the JIMI HENDRIX vault... RIP NITIN VADUKUL and SONNY AKPAN.