All evidence to the contrary, Jennifer Lopez was not cut from "American Idol" Wednesday. A few more episodes like this one, though, and I'll vote that she should be. A show that began with an upbeat round of Beatlemania ended with Lopez sobbing that she couldn't do this any more because she was so devastated over heartwarming contestant Chris Medina not making the final 24.
Medina took the news pretty well, from the few seconds we saw of him before the camera cut back to judges' row. There, at some length, we watched Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler tell Jennifer her meltdown really just proves she's a good person.
Okay, let's give her that. Or not. Who cares? The salient point here is not whether she's kind to puppies and failed "American Idol" hopefuls, but that she's a judge. That's what judges do. They tell some people they can stay and other people they have to go home. Even people who have heartwarming stories.
Equally disturbing here is the way the producers could barely contain their excitement about their judge hitting the wall. Some time before the actual breakdown, the show was teasing to it as it went into a commercial break.
Coming up: Jennifer breaks down. Don't touch that dial.
It's obvious why the producers did this, of course, and by conventional TV wisdom it was probably a smart move.
When Jennifer cries, some part of America cries with her, or least goes "Awwww," which for purposes of making viewers feel all empathetic and maternal is just as good.
Turning "Idol" into "The Crying Game" – okay, without a reveal – may well have boosted the show's buzz during the difficult middle period when it has the hardest time keeping viewers.
In the long term, though, it reinforces the disturbing possibility that "Idol" is hedging its bets on what it's selling this year.
Even though Ryan Seacrest keeps insisting this year's contestants offer the greatest confluence of talent since Jay-Z met Beyonce, the show's body language suggests it's still reserving the right to make the judges the stars.
If that sounds like a stretch, consider the parallel announcement last night that J-Lo will be debuting the video for her new single on next Thursday's show.
At the very least, this can overshadow the contestants, several of whom did quite nicely last night with The Beatles tunes the show was supposed to be about. At least the producers resisted the urge to close it out with J-Lo singing "I'll Cry Instead."