American Idol is Back!
Season 7 of American Idol has begun!! I didn’t actually watch last night’s audition show, but I recorded it and I am looking forward to watching it this morning. The audition shows always crack me up, even if they are contrived and set up in a way.
My cousin Kevin went to the auditions in Nashville a few years ago, and he said that there are several rounds you have to get through in order to actually audition in front of Simon, Paula, and Randy. Judges are set up in little mini-booths that are crammed together in rooms and hallways and they check off a series of things on a judging sheet and you either make it to the next round or you don’t. Some of the people who make it to the tv show version are obviously not talented enough to have passed five or six rounds of judging, which means that they got passed through for the simple fact that they CAN’T sing. I guess after the audition show proved to be such a huge hit in the second season or whenever, they decided to extend it to several two hour special shows, and milk it for all it’s worth when someone is dressed up crazy or can’t carry a tune to save their life.
My guess is, by the time someone actually makes it to the three celebrity judges, their fate has basically already been decided. Either they were put through to specifically go forward in the competition or they were pushed through to be made fun of by millions of Americans tuning in. I guess there are some “close calls” where the judges are supposedly torn about what to do, but those are probably put in there knowingly as well. I can understand that it is purely for our entertainment value, and I certainly am entertained by the bad singers. However, it also makes a bit sad that instead of putting through geniunely talented people an giving them a shot in front of the big dogs, they give those precious slots away to horrible singers and exhibitionists. There are probably a lot of very talented people that are cast aside for the sake of getting laughs and improving ratings. The other sad thing is, of course, that he majority of these bad singers actually are getting their hopes up and thinking that they can sing. I mean, after all, they have pobably been hearing really talented people get cut while they keep getting pushed through to the next round. I feel sorry for them in a way. Ah, well, such is the nature of the beast.
Either way, I am looking forward to this season on Idol and can’t wait to see what kind of talent rises to the top this year. I tend to watch a season religiously, and then not watch the next season at all. I did not like Taylor Hicks in Season 5, and was so incredibly disappointed when he won, so I didn’t even bother with last season at all. (Of course, I wasn’t surprised when his record went belly up and the label dropped his record deal. Katherine McPhee seems to be doing well for herself though, as it should be. That girl can sing. And, of course, there’s Chris Daughtry who has really come out with some great songs.) But back to Season 7. I am ready for a new Idol, and hope it turns out to be a great season. Okay, well, enough of my rambling, I’m off to watch the show and laugh at all the bad singers. Peace out.