It is the eternal debate of our time: which verbal tic of American Idol judge Randy Jackson is more irksome, "dawg" or "pitchy"? "Dawg," of course, can pop up for any reason whatsoever, but it’s usually only in reference to a guy. "Pitchy," meanwhile, is Randy’s (and Paula’s) knee-jerk, go-to criticism for anyone, but that rears its head only after wobbly singers. So which is worse? We’ll keep count of each utterance (from every judge) all season to see which offending word comes out on top.
Top 24: The Guys
Dawg — 12
Pitchy — 8
Top 24: The Gals
Dawg — 3*
Pitchy — 3
SEASON TOTAL:
Dawg — 15
Pitchy — 11
*Includes a "dawg-pound," but the PopWatch Ref has ruled ineligible the multiple utterances of "dog" and "dog-walker" from Randy and Simon after dog-walker Leslie Hunt’s performance.
8 + 3 = 11
you have to admit, the word pitchy has to be used. It’s not enough to sing the right melody, it has to be in the right key.
When Randy and Paula are talking, all I hear is “whaa, wha wha whaaaaa.” Their opinions are relatively inconsequential. Simon runs this thing and, i think, he’s usually spot on. Notice how he doesn’t have a favorite slang word? It’s because he’s really giving good critiques and if the contestants are listening, good advice.
true, you do have to comment on someone’s being on or off pitch, but you don’t have to (over)use a made-up, vague word to do so.
Nit-picky is correct. Arithmetic error fixed.
I don’t know, dawg. What ever happened to telling someone they sang off tune?
Is there any way we can keep a vague, non-word word like “pitchy” from entering the English language permanently? If they KNEW what was wrong they would be able to say this singer was “sharp” or “flat” or “sang with poor intonation.” Sadly, neither Randy nor Paula have reputations for being great vocalists. (I’d like to know if either of them ever took voice lessons.) We know they understand pop music and Simon understands marketability.
Forget “dawg” and “pitchy.” Randy’s new pet phrase “good looking out” has probably already broken the count meter. What does that even mean, in the context that he’s using it?
What about a count for “cruise ship” or “hotel lounge” so Simon can get in the mix?
“Pitchy” means covered in pitch……check out Professor Chan at VFTW. It has nothing to do with music.
Anyone else sick of the belittling of the women of this show? They are always referred to as “Girls” and the Men are referred to as “Guys” Guys is not equivalent to Girls, Either men and women or boys and girls. (the term “Gals” has gone the way of the Dodo)
You’re looking into it way too much. I’m sorry, but I’m a woman, and I can’t stand it when fellow ladies get too wrapped up in verbage. Not to say there are certain words/phrases that could offend me, but seriously, “Guys, girls” – whatever. I’m not offended.
I would pitch (hee hee) in and add Simon’s “karaoke” (as in “that sounded like a good/bad karaoke version of XY”) to the mix. “Lounge-singer” and “cruise-ship” are also Simon faves, definitely.
This year…..”That song was too big for you”. Heard it al least 10 times.
On a kind of related subject, my sister and I play a game we call “Where has Simon seen this before.” This usually consists of us yelling out things like “cruise ship, cruise ship” or “high school musical” during the performances, but sometimes we really go for out there references on the off chance we’ll be right. My brother-in-law actually said opening act for a male stripper, when Simon said opening act for Chippendales. He didn’t realize that he got it right because of the slightly different wording and because my sister and I were laughing uncontrollably. I doubt that anyone can ever top that moment in “Where has Simon seen this before.”