I’ve Sunk To A New Low

Tonight, I watched American Idol. Not only do I hate reality TV, I loathe American Idol. Do I sound harsh? Let me explain… See, I find it really sad that most Americans can’t name their senators, but they spend hours every week chit chatting with their co-workers about how drunk Paula Abdul was. I mean, which is more important-trying to understand the basics of important things(i.e., world politics, the struggle between Islamic extremists and the modern world, the state of the economy, etc.) or how off-pitch some yahoo from Milwaukee was on last night’s episode. Yes, I realize this makes me a snob. I don’t care. Friends have told me they love Idol because every person on there has the chance to realize his/her dream! Fair enough…except that many of the contestants are already realizing their dream of being a pro vocalist. True, they may not be selling out stadiums for solo shows, but they aren’t exactly like your local bus driver who happens to have a great voice and gets a chance to show off. And really, I think the main reason so many people love this show isn’t the singers at all…but because Simon is such a harsh, critical jerk. When someone sucks, he has no problem saying, “You suck!” Granted, if someone wants to go on national television and play the fool, who am I to complain?
So, why did I watch tonight? Well, my future sister in law is a performer. One of her backup singers happens to be in the finals. Figured this was as good of time as any to lose my Idol virginity. And I did. And it was moderately entertaining…but now I’m off to counteract the damage that reality TV has done…anyone know where I can get a Wall Street Journal?