Amer-i-can't Idol

I like Keith Olberman. While he’s no doubt the liberal version of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity he’s still pretty cool (I tend not to like folks who are either too liberal or too conservative. Which is why my boy, The Hippie Conservative is j-u-u-ust right). But a couple of nights ago, he made a comment that annoyed the hell out of me. He accused the judges on the popular singing competition American Idol of being too mean to the contestants. This was apparently in response to comments made by Simon Cowell – the most notorious of the judges – addressed to a mentally challenged contestant.

Now, let’s be clear on one thing: I really don’t like American Idol. For the most part, I’m not a fan of the music industry these days, so it would only make sense for me not to like a show about kids aspiring to be in that industry. But I’ll admit that the initial auditioning is pretty addictive for me to watch. I get a kick out of watching people get on stage and make a fool out of themselves. For this reason, they deserve whatever criticism they get.

I’m sorry. But watching some of these putrid performances, you can’t convince me that these people don’t already know that they suck. There's absolutely nothing wrong with pointing that out. After all, knowing how bad they are, the contestants try to be…well…the worse they can be; more than likely so they can become the new William Hung (in a way, I feel bad for him and how bad the media has been exploiting him).

Most of these contestants -- who seem to get stranger and stranger each episode -- need some serious professional help.

And not just with their singing...

- ACL