Dreams of the American Idle

Last year I was almost mesmerized for a couple of months watching American Idol. I laughed through the ridiculous auditions, amazed at the whole process.  Sure, I know there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who have dreams of becoming famous.

But I was completely stunned to realize that not only are there an abundance of people who are clueless that they have no musical talent, but even more who show up just to make fools of themselves on camera.  And then I watched these finalists go through the process of trying to make it into the final round of contestants.  There were so many very talented performers it was hard to even think about voting for one over all the rest.  I was drawn in by the whole mystique, cheering for these singers who worked themselves half to death to try to win the contest. As a vocalist, I know how hard these contestants were working to do what they did.

So this year I anticipated another enjoyable season like last year.  But this year has been totally flat.  There isn’t much of anything I found interesting after the auditions phase, none of the contestants caught my interest at all.  I haven’t bothered to watch at all.  It’s just another so-called reality show that is the equivalent of mental junk food on the tube.

Truth is, I’ve hardly watched any television at all this year.  The shows I used to enjoy, like CSI and Law and Order have deteriorated into formula soap operas with little about them that’s absorbing.  The networks cancelled Dead Zone and Journeyman, so even those forays into the impossible are gone.  There is just NOTHING on there worth watching anymore.  I’m ready to just pull the plug altogether.