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It's de rigeur these days to mourn the fact that a woman hasn't won Idol in five years. But increasingly, it's the show's own damn fault. Its producers are so desperate to find another Carrie Underwood – Idol's biggest commercial success – that, metaphorically, they've dyed the show blonde.

Now, blonde can be fine, especially if it's got a dreadlock twist, the way Crystal Bowersox does it. It can even be confrontational, if it's platinum bold. But when it represents accommodation to the narrowest of feminine ideals? That's when I reach for the remote and switch over to The Voice.

Literally blonde or not, this group leans heavily toward a conservative vision of the feminine: pliable, perky but never rebellious, waxed and tanned and pretty in pink. Country cuties dominate. Baylie Brown is a former cast member of The Singing Bee, a Country Music Television karaoke show. Chelsea Sorrell sang in North Carolina hunk Chris Lane's band. Though Skylar Laine's background is in musical theater, the Mississippi native's image has been tweaked to fit the most clichéd of backwoods Barbie stereotypes.

I'm not hearing or seeing a natural star like Underwood – or even last season's Lauren Alaina — in this bunch. Nashville might be where many want to end up, but most come off like extras in a late-period Aerosmith video. I can only hope one turns out to be an elf princess.

Here's something the Idol team needs to realize: Carrie Underwood is a unique talent. She's risen to the top of the Nashville heap because her blend of wholesomeness and crossover glamor is not easily replicated. Plus, she has a voice that's nearly as powerful and golden as Mariah Carey's. She's that rarest of Idol winners: a born star who really didn't need the show to succeed.