I Have a Dirty, Shameful Secret

I watch American Idol.

I am not proud of this. I resisted it for a long time but like with any reality show I ever got sucked into it happened by chance; pausing a movie while waiting for the husband to go the bathroom and nothing else being on...absolutely nothing else being on and catching a second or third episode... the usual what-have-yous.

I started with American Idol last season. It started with, as mentioned above, one of my husband's 30 minute bathroom trips. Damn him and his bowels! So, yes, I got sucked in. Incidentally, Bo Bice should totally have won. He was my favorite from the beginning.

So we've watched the first two episodes, there may have been more this week but I've been busy having a life. I forgot how painful the early episodes are.

You know, the episodes where the irredeemably talentless willingly make total fools of themselves? Ugh. It's like a horridly embarassing nightmare. And yet I watch?! I can't even watch movies like "Meet the Parents" because it's all based on ridiculous situations and embarassment humor. And there are moments while watching these early episodes of Idol where I have my hands clapped over my eyes groaning, "Oh no, no, no! Stop him!"

What amazes me the most is the perception of the contestants. It's sociologically interesting. My husband and I marvel at how misguided their perceptions seem to be. What world are they living in? Have they ever recorded their own voices and listened to the playback? How on earth can people be so out of touch with reality?

This is especially true with the ones who are absolutely ghastly and then look completely disbelieving and eventually devastated when they’re sent packing. This is when my husband and I exchanged wide-eyed stares and despair for the human race.

Simon is right to bitch-slap these people back into the real world where they are never going to succeed in this arena. He can be a bit cruel but obviously no one has ever spoken the truth to some of these people. That, and he's generally right.

Ok, so there it is, my secret is out.