I've never watched American Idol before. We didn't get it in our remote location with our dinosaur satellite dish.
So it was all new to me.
So here's how it went. I rooted for the contestants for no good reason at all except I liked them. I don't know much about 'singing' talent, they all sounded pretty good to me, so I went on the assumption that they wouldn't have made that top cut if they weren't decent singers. After that, I think like all famous people, it's about luck, the package, the mood.
I just went with who I liked.
First I wanted Michael Sarver.
The oil rig guy.
He was, to me, the dream candidate.
He was the guy that made me think, "I could be up there."
He reminded me that I've gotten a book published, which is hard. And I actually managed it, something that I at once thought of as the Impossible Dream.
Pause here to hum that song.
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
There, that was nice, moving on.........
Then I switched to Scott MacIntyre because he was amazing. Playing that piano, blind. Can you
imagine how talented he is to learn to play a new song every week without eye sight? And really, honestly it's not about being blind, though that's really compelling. It's about having a really abiding gift. Deep and real. Talent.
Again, bottom line, I liked him. I guess that's the kiss of death because BAM he's gone.
Now I turn to Matt Giraud...but honestly, once Michael was gone I quit caring mostly. The dream was over, the unreachable star was unreached. All I could think was, "
At least Michael gets to go on tour. I hope he makes a fortune. AND was he back on that dangerous oil rig until it was time to go on tour? AND what about all those other guys on a oil rig? It's a dangerous job. AND my husband has a kinda dangerous job....what about him, why doesn't HE get to go on tour. True he can't sing much, but still........"So anyway, while I'm supposed to be rooting for someone, all I can do is free associate 'what if's' so that's not good. So anyway I switched to Matt because I really liked that he sat there at the piano. This is a double dose of talent.
I thought Allison Iraheta was incredibly talented, shockingly talented for someone so young, but with her I just kept thinking, "
Go back to school. Just say no if one of those Hollywood weirdos offers you drugs. Where are your parents? Are they watching out for you? Are you keeping up with your homework?" So Allison for me was fraught with danger. I'm a mother with her, not a fan.
Somewhere in there, about the time they were ejecting Matt I turned to Kris Allen. One week he sang a song with a four piece band (including him) and a guy sat behind him drumming on this weird hollow sounding wooden thing...
And I loved that wooden thing...but more to the point...I could see Kris being in a band. I could see him making that band his own. I could imagine him on stage and me in the audience. So I switched to Kris
I never rooted for Danny Gokey,
though I thought he was very talented
and loved his story and hurt for him losing his wife.
And Adam, I just can't see myself at a concert of his, just not my thing.
Of course I never go to concerts
and will no doubt never go to a concert held by Kris...
but I could imagine it.
So Kris was my choice...but after Michael was driven off the stage and sent back to almost certain death on the oil rig, I really couldn't care anymore. And they all sang just fine, don't they pretty much synthesize the voices of modern singers anyway???
That's me and American Idol......year one.
