Two fractured headlines, plus Sudiegirl rants yet again

Study: Most young kids glued to the TV
(Like that's a big surprise?! Who funds these studies? I want to slap them - HARD.)






UConn scientists probe sea squirt invasion
(Does this sound slightly obscene to you too?)










OK – as I’ve claimed many times, I do not watch “American Idol”. I boycott it, and with digital cable, it ain’t hard, folks.

One of the main reasons I boycott it is because they say (meaning "AI" producers) I’m too old. (I wrote about it in an earlier entry, noting that my nieces and nephew were thoroughly honked off about this. However, they still watch the show. (Sigh – the young people are easily swayed.)

Unfortunately, if you listen to the radio, watch the news on TV or surf the Internet, it’s hard to avoid what’s going on with that TV show. And YES, the visages of the two finalists has been pasted around the ‘net like cheap circus posters on a fence.

Here’s a photo of the two of them. Mr. Hicks (for those of you have been living under a rock these past few months) is on the left, and Ms. McPhee is on the right, hanging on to him like he's a prematurely gray flotation device.

Now, if you click here, you will go to an interview with “The Prematurely Gray with Groucho Marx Eyebrows One” through the Entertainment Weekly website. I took the liberty of lifting one quote from the article, reproduced here…

“I am, indeed, the American Idol.”

OK…this little quote from Mr. Salt and Pepper pisses me off on a few levels. Let me list them.

1. Where the hell does he get off with a statement like that? Yes, he won the contest. Cool. Fine. But ya know what? Before he got on the show, he was a schlub just like the rest of us musicians that hover around doing gigs. I was tempted to buy his first album when it comes out, and I’ve downloaded a few of his tunes. I was willing to give this guy a chance. But after that statement, HELL NO! He can rot for all I care, and he will not get my $13.99 plus tax.

2. Second question – also directed to this quote of his – if he’s an American Idol (‘indeed”), does that mean he’s going to have a better fashion consultant? That cheesy velvet jacket's gotta go. They only look good on Prince and RuPaul. I’m sorry. If you’re being compared to Michael McDonald as far as voice is concerned, and you’re going through the whole salt-pepper hair thing, note this – MICHAEL MCDONALD DOESN’T WEAR NASTY VELVET JACKETS!!!!

3. Final thought – A little bit of humble goes a long way. I’ve got some humble – I’m not better than Linda Ronstadt, Beyonce or Annie Lennox, among others. Just note this, Mr. Hicks…I can out-sing you any day of the week, but the “AI” producers say I’m too old. Just watch it…I’m older and have more experience. Oh, and less gray hair. I also own NO velvet jackets.

To sum up this entry, I am going to give my counterpoints to the article below, and you can read it without my snarky comments if you click on the title above.

'Idol' worship
Thu May 25, 7:34 AM ET

Television, it is often said, has never been the same since the arrival of cable, satellite and the Internet. Audiences are more fragmented and shows are more targeted, making it hard for the medium to serve as the electronic public square that it once did.
(OK, I agree with that one.)

Apparently, no one has told that to the producers of American Idol. Nearly 32 million households were tuned to the show Tuesday night to watch this year's two finalists, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee, perform three songs each. Similar numbers likely watched Wednesday night when Hicks was anointed the winner. What's more, Idol's audience is growing from year to year, which is unusual for so-called reality shows that often lose viewers once their novelty wears off. (Well, there are people who don’t really watch it in the first place and are a heck of a lot better off too…case in point…MOI!)

Idol might be today's equivalent to The Ed Sullivan Show, which from 1948 to '71 was must-watch fare for families around the country. Like the Sullivan show, Idol attracts huge audiences and helps launch careers. And like the Sullivan show, it's something that people of differing races, genders and generations can share. (Except when rock groups had to censor their lyrics or Ed Sullivan couldn’t pronounce the name of the performer/group.)

At the risk of sounding overly effusive toward television, which is consumed in far too abundant quantities, there is a valuable function in a show like this. It has no objectionable content, no snakes or leeches, no contrived spontaneity and no Donald Trump. (Obviously this person must go to the restroom whenever Simon Cowell opens his mouth. They’ve also missed the news write-ups about the controversial stuff – the Paula Abdul sex-as-payoff thing with one contestant, Randy Jackson and ol’ Simon making snide comments about someone’s gender confusion or weight problems, etc.)

Perhaps the show's success is the result of its simple concept. Virtually anyone can try out. (Unless you’re over 30! Check your facts, please!) It has a host and three judges, who select winners in the early rounds. In the later rounds, the judges merely opine while the winners are selected by millions of people who vote, often more than once, with telephones and wireless gizmos. (Well, there has been controversy about the phones/wireless “gizmos” funneling votes to the wrong people too. The USA Today author must have missed that write up too.)

Or perhaps Idol's success is in how it encapsulates so much of American culture. It delivers instant celebrity, the ultimate dream in a nation of dreamers. And it almost perfectly mimics, or perhaps spoofs, the U.S. political system - with its drawn-out campaigns, its imperfect elections, its annoying commentators. (Gee…sounds like a movie that just came out and had mediocre box office returns. Whod’ve thunk?)

American Idol's success proves that the nation can still be brought together by a TV show. At a time of contentious political and cultural division, it's a useful reminder that Americans still share common bonds. (Yeah, like watching people get humiliated each week by a smarmy British guy who needs to be drawn and quartered.)

So if this sounds like sour grapes to you, so be it. But it’s my blog, my rules, and that’s the way it goes.

Bye for now!

Sudiegirl