"Too cheesy," "not relevant," "extremely cabaret" and "terrible vocals" were common criticisms heard from the south end of the judging table this past week on "American Idol." Aside from Paula Abdul's over-the-top compliments and Randy Jackson's on-the-fence opinions, Simon Cowell's take on week one completely highlighted the show.

This year, it seems that Simon is determined to find the right singer to advance into the music industry. And why shouldn't he? A professional needs to be able to handle the rigmarole of the music industry. But often times, Simon loses his focus. Just how far will he go to drive home a point?

Should there be guidelines to what the judges critique the contestants on? Randy and Paula seem to be consistent in their weekly comments, but Simon contradicts himself often. How fair is it for Simon to comment on someone's appearance when Ruben Studdard won the "American Idol" title of season two?

This week, "American Idol" adopted the '60s theme, one of the more difficult genres to make contemporary. In the past, some of the most famous singers such as Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra were cabaret performers.

In season three, Simon actually enjoyed the likes of John Stevens who mirrored the talent of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. "American Idol" may not be searching for the next cabaret performer, but they are looking for someone unique. If Carrie Underwood was able to represent the country scene, Chris Daughtry the rock 'n' roll sector and Kelly Clarkson the pop group, why not encourage the next new style? The judges stress that each singer needs bring themselves to the stage. If cabaret is a style they can rock out, why not accept that as something positive and possibly one of a kind?

At the same time, why shouldn't Simon and the rest of judges be more critical this season? Each one believes they have found the best Top 24 contestants since the start of the show, so why not hammer home the truth? If they've made it past the Hollywood round, most should already have a thick skin when it comes to Simon's comments. Kady Malloy and Garrett Haley took the brunt of the harshness from Simon but were able to stand their ground. In the end, the judge's feedback should only challenge each of the contestants to really examine their song choice and work harder every week. With that in mind, they'll only get better.

The line needs to be drawn somewhere. Simon can be brutally honest on every aspect of a performance, but to go as far as he did with Garrett Haley's appearance was ridiculous. Has he not learned anything from criticizing Sanjaya Malakar last season? In essence, isn't someone's appearance a large part of what makes them who they are? A little makeover never hurt anyone, but why change a part of someone that makes them the unique person they have grown to become?

Performance-wise, I do agree with many of the comments delivered last night. Though it was a difficult theme to tackle, many of the performances seemed too karaoke or cheesy to be caught on a television singing contest. My top three performers were Alaina Whitaker, David Archuleta and Asia'h Epperson.

Here are my picks for the four unfortunate contestants heading home tonight: Chikezie Eze, Garrett Haley, Amy Davis and Carly Smithson. Will America prove me wrong?

Story by Kathryn Sparks
Starpulse contributing writer