i think of american idol as the melting pot of our pop-sentiments, the mean of our collective consciousness, which is why simon is so compelling. he is a barometer of the masses, the median. i think he genuinely feels that he is speaking for the average of us all, which is an intriguing idea to me. but that’s beside the point. what i’m thinking is that if american idol is the collection of our consciousness, appealing to the average of what we’re thinking and feeling, then it’s pretty cool that one of the shows is centered on our collective responsibility to our neighbors. this gets really cool if i’m able to summon within myself a decent dose of un-cynicism and think about it for a minute or two. for one night, a bit of american idol’s mission and the church’s mission align which means something significant, maybe.
last night, watching idol, i experienced previously unexplored emotions. the theme for the night was – “inspirational song”. i had received an email shortly before the show aired saying that “american idol” had requested publishing rights for the song “stars” and that there was a very slight chance that it would be preformed by one of the contestants. this was cool but terrifying. i mean, for one, i’ve been watching this season and i have my favorites. which means there are those who are not my favorites and who need to leave the show so my favorites can advance. well, what if one of the ones who is not in my favorites was the one requesting the song? what then? would they then become my favorite? this created terrific internal turmoil. and too, what if they are one of my favorites and they sing the song and it doesn’t go well, will i be partially to blame? absolutely! it would be totally my fault! or then simon berates them, like, “nope, not a good song choice for you, sorry,” in his pompous little accent? i mean, he totally trashed a dolly parton song with dolly watching! well, needless to say, the song was not performed and in my opinion my favorites still remain intact. but it was fun i will admit.
here’s the thing though. i don’t know which contestant it was. so, think about it, and let me know who you think it might have been and also who you think will win and any thoughts in general about this idol-atry.