American Idol Wrapup...

The new season of Idol is underway, but I have no predictions at this point. I was only able to watch the first two audition episodes so far and while there were some laughs, there seemed to be something missing...oh, yeah, Paula's often-inane, but always amusing, drunken rants! The guest-judge scheme was okay, but there were decidedly mixed results: Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) guested in Boston and was mostly good despite that funky doily she had on her head the first day; Mary J. Bilge (sic) was a spectacle in eye-rolling rudeness that I really could have done without during the Atlanta auditions. There was one rather hilarious moment where Bilge told someone that he needed "to have some humility to be in this business" but then she spent the rest of the episode showing that she had none herself.

For regional interest, Vanessa Wolfe of Vonore, TN, showed up at the Atlanta auditions, proceeded to sing an Old Crow Medicine Show song and got sent to Hollywood. The girls sings well and appears to play guitar, but she is one of the poor around here that probably never would leave the area without this break. I hope to God AI and Hollywood don't swallow her whole. (Vonore is less than 60 miles away from this author's home.)

Unfortunately, my wife had to fly to see be with her family for a couple weeks right after those episodes, so we're DVR-ing the rest for when she gets back.

I guess there could be some question as to my seriousness about American Idol. Do I really like this show or is this all some kind of put-on? Folks that know me personally know that I do actually like the show...AND I like to laugh at it. While it's easy enough to just laugh at the audition episodes, when the actually competition gets started, I check out a few websites every day after a show airs to see what mischief they've gotten up to.

First and foremost is VotefortheWorst.com. This website started several years ago with the intention of piercing the illusionary American Idol bubble. They start out with the premise that the Idol producers have a few "favorites" that they would like to succeed and others are promoted are "cannon fodder" that the viewers will vote off quickly. So they proceed to determine who the absolute worst performer/singer/personality is and encourage as many people as possible to vote for that person. I have not actually done that, but their show re-caps are ROFLMAO funny.

The other must-read site is Entertainment Weekly's TV Watch. While not as vicious as Vote For the Worst, the reviewers are still often-hilarious and worth reading. Actually, I would recommend TV Watch for other shows you regularly watch as well...their Lost re-caps are always intriguing, pointing out the myriad small details you probably missed and all the connections to books, movies, philosophy, and other TV shows that are contained in the show.

If you are still skeptical of AI, this season may be the last chance you have to jump on board. With Paula gone and Simon leaving, if next season even happens, it will be a shell of its former self. My suggestion: take it for what it is--good entertainment--and don't worry about voting unless you really, really like a contestant that much. Then read Vote for the Worst the next day for a good laugh. If you try that for a couple weeks and still don't get it...at least you tried.