american fool idol

I admit it, I like "American Idol". I just expended two valuable hours of my life watching the premiere for this season, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The judges were absolutely hilarious. Simon's best line: "Your future involves not singing". Randy had a good line too; after one particularly horrible performance from a kid who attempted to juggle while singing, the kid said "I can dance too". Randy replied something like "Great. Why don't you do a little dance on your way out the door".

This one covered the auditions in Minneapolis. Natives of that city are about the nicest people in the world - how can the judges be mean to them, even when they were as pathetic as they were? Of course, many contestants were from elsewhere.

One thing every season seems to have is the young military reservist or enlistee, complete with a two-minute profile depicting how brave and selfless he (or she) is, and this season is no exception. This time it is a young woman of 21 who was quite the mediocre singer. I can't remember her name - it doesn't matter, she won't last too long. Predictably, they let her through to Hollywood. You just know she never would have made it if it wasn't for the uniform. Does Fox require a patriotic twist to every show which broadcasts from its towers?

She seems like a nice, innocent young woman. Her husband is currently on active duty in Iraq. She was quoted as saying something like "After 911, I thought joining the reserves was the best thing I could do to protect my country". It really pains me to see the youth of this country duped into becoming cannon fodder for foreign adventures, believing all the while that they are "protecting" us. I watch American Idol for escapism from this troubled world, but alas, even this silly little show is tainted by the reality of the warfare state.