It’s been quite a week in music. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted none other than Madonna, the raunchy-pop-diva of my youth. But as I recall, Madonna was hardly rock and roll. She may have pushed the envelope – she was all about sex and claims to have dabbled in drugs; that’s how we define "Rock and Roll", right? Still, she didn’t respect the honor enough to perform, and I say boo to that. Justin Timberlake introduced her. How is he Rock and Roll? Rock and Roll is the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Ramones, AC/DC and Van Halen.  Aerosmith is Rock and Roll.

Rock and Roll is the Beatles.

Tonight, American Idol opened with their Top 12 contestants on a new set with a sort of “mosh pit” located in front of the judges. Their theme was Lennon/McCartney, the rock royalty that can be compared to none. So, I sat down with a bag of popcorn and began to watch, cringing at poor arrangements and pitchy performances by most of the contestants. Ryan Seacrest was a little over the top tonight, seemingly dazzled by the new stage setup.

The show did have some highlights. Chikezie, who performed “She’s a Woman” rather brilliantly for someone that was brought up listening to Nigerian music, found a way to make the song his own. We’ll forgive him for his day job, where he does airport security, an occupation that apparently entails “feeling people up”. His words, not mine.

Next up was Carly Smithson. Her rendition of “Come Together” was in fact, rock and roll. It was bluesy and gritty and just what the theme of the evening was supposed to be about. It’s was a long and winding road from there. David Cook did “Eleanor Rigby” justice.  I swear Amanda Overmyer was channeling Nancy Wilson from Heart with her bold performance of “You Can’t Do That”.  Kristy Lee Cook attempted to turn “Eight Days a Week” into a country song. It was nothing short of awful. Seventeen year old David Archuletta, who sang a disappointing version of “We Can Work It Out,” is still America’s Sweetheart. We all have bad days. Tonight was definitely not his night.

But then, the season premiere of Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels was on. Gene Simmons is the ringmaster of Rock and Roll, even if his kids don’t think so.