I despise American Idol. It goes against every fiber of belief I have in music. The Simon Cowell Cookie Cutter Factory of creating “stars” really gets on my last nerve. Despite my negativity towards the-show-that-distracts-millions, I can’t help but write about it at the moment, because metal gods Judas Priest made a guest appearance on the series finale the other night – and blew the whole show out of the water with a great performance, which you can view at the bottom of this post.

My hatred for American Idol aside, you have to admit that this is a good move for Priest in the publicity department. As reported here numerous times, the band are about to embark on their farewell tour, and making an impressive appearance on a show like this is a good way to get the word out beyond the regular fan base.

Judas Priest played “Living After Midnight” and “Breaking the Law” with finalist James Durbin – and it marks the first live performance of the band with new guitarist Richie Faulkner.

Durbin’s performance in the video below is actually quite good, and I’m sure he would make a good metal vocalist. He needs to get out of the American Idol crap, and jump into working hard with a solid band in my opinion. He has some potential there.

As always, Rob Halford was in fine form, and clearly after all these years enjoys singing with other vocalists on stage for a bit of fun every now and then. If you haven’t seen Halford do this before, I highly suggest you check out some of the Pantera DVD’s out there that show footage of them playing with Rob.

The band are about to embark on their final world tour, and the U.S. leg is expected to begin in October.

Video

[Source: Blabbermouth]