they should call it american DENIAL

Now that I'm fast-forwarding through my DVR's collection of shows from the sixth season of American Idol, I've finally come to understand why I'm so fascinated by these lead-off cattle-call shows yet so very uninterested in the subsequent "you made it to Hollywood!" shows that eventually winnow the pool down to the winner. My fascination comes from realizing I sit watching, mouth agape, at how deep in denial the lionshare of these contestants manage to live.

This season's opening cattle-calls in Minneapolis and Seattle have illustrated like no others just how powerfully (painfully?) an individual's denial can separate them from reality. It seems like the worse the auditioning singer, the more adamant they are that everyone else just can't appreciate how superbly talented they are. Now, I'm no expert in spotting singing talent, but even I know when I hear folks that, to put it plainly, sing real bad. Equipped with this knowledge, I can also spot when a given "talent" (methinks) doth protest too much at being told they're awful.

And that's what makes the cattle call shows that open each season of American Idol so very much fun for me. It's an illustration over and over and over just how delusional these kids are that they possess some kind of singing talent. If only they'd expend a similar amount of energy opening their minds to feedback and redirection, they might become something. Alas and alack they don't: they're in heavy denial, and seemingly happily so.

And like every other season but the first, I'll quit watching AI once they convene the contestants in Hollywood (dawg!). It's at this stage that the talent consistently acts in diva-like ways to sabotage their own futures, and I think that's even worse than fate befallen those in denial who never made it out of the first round.

(thank goodness the HR20 seems to be recording the shows as intended... fingers crossed)