Look and see if there's a potential Jennifer Hudson or Chris Daughtry premature-elimination success story to be had. In the case of season 10, the obvious pick for that slot is Pia Toscano, whom conventional wisdom had winning in a shoo-in before America did its shooing out.Her first single, "This Time," arrives via Interscope this week, and not a moment too soon to give country-phobic "Idol" fans someone other than Scotty and Lauren to remember 2011 by. It's a ballad (surprise) full of wronged-woman fury … which, in the best diva tradition, may symbolically mirror what the public knows about her personally."Well, I'm mad as hell and can't take it no more," the tune begins, making the double-negative its sole spin on the tired Paddy Chayefsky trope. "Like a butterfly, gonna spread my wings..." It's hard to imagine that every single line could be as generic as the what's-that-again? title, yet this is songwriter Dean's feat.What's ironic is that "This Time," which is clearly meant to serve the needs of non-Scotty and Lauren-loving "Idol" watchers, sounds at heart like a contemporary country song (all the way down to its "My bags is packed" syntax). It might well have turned out better with a modern Nashville arrangement instead of the vaguely urban adult-contemporary sheen it's been given. Not that we want Toscano to go country: Even those of us who love our twang would like to keep hope alive that "Idol" remains capable of producing a non-heartland star.
