American Idol: Some General Musings

If you've been following my Twitter feed at all, you might have noticed a streak of American Idol related tweets last night, including one in which I declared I'd be writing a blog post about why American Idol is everything that is wrong with this country. I don't know if I fully believe that--because you could certainly argue that there are some wonderful aspects to the show, including, on the one hand--it truly is the American dream manifested (come from nothing, outshine others to become something). In theory, sure, it's great. However, in practice--it's miserable.

I had never seen more than 10 minutes of Idol before last night, when I probably watched a total of 45 minutes while Annie and Ashleigh were catching up on the shows from this week. While they explained to me how the show worked ("Why are they all singing Michael Jackon songs? Why does Paula sound like she's about to pass out? Who's the other chick? Why does it take an hour to kick someone off?") I found that I mainly suffered a lot of secondhand embarrasment, as well as shock at the cheese factor, as well as at the young mothers performing (maybe it's close minded of me, but I am still amazed when I see girls under 23 who have kids--I just figured everyone waits until they are a little older these days). The production felt very 90s, including various participant family members' hairstyles--and the fact that half of the kids seem better suited for an Off Broadway musical or community theater.

I had no idea the show was in it's 9th season, and for someone as TV-obsessed as me, I must admit my complete ignorance about AI (and much of reality TV) could be considered out of character. However, I've written about my dislike for reality TV in the past (how it ruined the sitcom, and most other scripted shows, among other things); so I won't get into it again. And although the roommates were giving me lots of shit (in response to my Twittering about my dislike, Annie tweeted "Get over yourself, Stamos." And yes, we were Twittering in the same room together--that's Gen Y and technology today, folks) I just don't think I could ever, ever get into that show. I did appreciate Kanye West, I mean performing in a Canadian Tuxedo is PHENOMENAL, but from here on out--count me out.