idol banter

so i'm trudging through my work day, obviously taking a momentary break to write here...i'm sure my boss would be thrilled to know that. *side note: they have myspace and youtube blocked at my new work. jerks. do they not wan tus to waste time online? funny, because everyone is on IM all day. hm. anyways, i'm looking forward to a few things today...namely, american idol is on tonight. it will be the highlight of my tuesdays (and wednesdays) for the next couple of months, and i love it. the first episodes aren't as good as when the real action gets started, but i love it regardless.

i'll tell you what i don't love though. this:

"The first half of each season, which many find the most entertaining, is based on the verbal abuse and humiliation of contestants who lack talent, or who are not pretty enough by the standards of today’s music industry. Recently, this part of the show has come under fire from critics claiming the judges have become increasingly hostile toward less-talented contestants." - Jimmy Blue, The Daily Evergreen

"Some media outlets, including O'Donnell on ABC's The View, have criticized the judges for being especially unkind, pointing specifically to Kenneth Briggs and Jonathan Jayne, who became buddies while standing in the Seattle audition line. They were terrible on the show and quickly dismissed, Simon Cowell calling Briggs, who has big eyes, a "bush baby." Later, it was reported that Jayne once participated in the Special Olympics."
-Mike McDaniel, Houston Chronicle

"Yet viewers, media critics and Rosie O'Donnell alike have since charged the judges with upping the meanness factor this season and making unnecessarily cruel remarks to the hapless hopefuls who come before them. O'Donnell railed against the threesome on The View last week, after screening a clip in which Cowell compared a contestant to a "bush baby." "Isn't that what America thinks is entertainment?" O'Donnell asked."
- Sarah Hall, E!Online

Let get serious here. This show has been on for five seasons, has top ratings of all time, has launched young people into stardom (and not just for AI fans, for everyone. Jennifer Hudson was nominated for an Oscar for crying out loud). and now, all of a sudden, people are concerned that Simon is mean? just now, really? it's silly. i realize that the show itself is silly, but i have been watching since the first episode of the first season...so i'm a supporter, no matter what anyone else says.

the real point here is that these kids who are running from talk show to talk show, crying because the judges were mean, are looking for the same exact thing that the judges and FOX (and all of hollywood, come to that). a little press, and a lot of money. these two jokers that started this whole thing have AGENTS! agents for pete's sake. a few weeks ago all they had was a video on youtube and a special olympics medal, and now they are lined up for commercials, appearances and meetings with celebrities.

so while you're trying to get a name for yourself, american idol rejects, don't bite the hand that feeds you...or you'll end up like james frey.