Disguised as the Devil

I've seen photos of Gene Simmons without his KISS makeup before, so seeing him unadorned as a guest judge on today's American Idol was hardly a shocker.

It was the way he spoke that blew my brains out.

Now I can't claim to know KISS particularly well, but I gotta say that I never imagined someone who played the part of the demon in his band's flamethrowing, blood-spitting stage shows would be as collected, articulate and insightful as the man I saw sitting next to Randy Jackson.

I wouldn't have imagined he would dish out observations like this nugget to a hopeful working in a prison ministry: "I see you more as a country singer, and here's why: rock and pop is usually associated with sexuality, but with country music, you can sing Christian themes and still be accepted and sell millions of records."

Nor would I have imagined him identifying C&W and a certain genre of 50's jazz as among his favourites. I mean, this guy just released a solo album titled A**hole!

Maybe these theatrical cock-rock types are really smarter than they make themselves out to be. Like rock journos. An aside: oh, I love Q Magazine! All Brit wit, irreverence and flashes of brilliance.