Esquire Magazine posted a thought piece on Simon Cowell's announced departure from American Idol called 'How Much do we owe Simon Cowell?'. Author Stephen Marche editorializes about how Americans like shows with judges and suggests that American Idol and other competitive reality shows enabled the American people to feel that everyone is now entitled to be a judge "We're all critics now". He singles out Lil Mama as a judge whose sensibilities reflect mass culture opinion: "We watch for the judges, not the judged, and to listen to their advice. It is, for the most part, magnificent, and one could not hope for better instruction for the next generation of talent. In every way that matters, Lil Mama from America's Best Dance Crew is a better teacher and critic than James Wood. A pagan priestess for preteens with a vision of Dionysian art triumphant, she enjoins intricacy, innovation, attention to detail, thoughtfulness, energy, and integrity, all in the unending pursuit of the ineffable, the crazy-ridiculous moment of beyond. She wants to use art to live now, in the fullness of experience, with honor. Who can do better?"
