Thursday, March 19, 2009

Confessions of an American Idol Junkie

Last night my Facebook status read, "Jennifer Rowlands is disappointed Alexis Grace got voted off -- I voted for you Alexis!" My sister left me the following comment:
"I'm still in shock that not only are you watching a reality TV show, you are emotionally involved enough to make it your status. Who are you and what have you done with my sister? BTW...I like Danny, Matt and Kris (in that order!)"

When I read her comment -- it is emailed to me, otherwise it would be quite a while before I'd ever see it -- I started to analyze why it is that I totally look forward to Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and can hardly wait until it's time to watch another episode of what has easily become my favorite TV show. It generated so much thought in fact, as I was crafting my "witty" response to her, that I thought, "Wow, I'd better just turn this in to a blog post." (Do I have time to write a blog post this morning -- no, not if I'm going to use my time wisely -- but I so rarely feel like pouring out thoughts into writing lately, I just have to grab these inspirations, no matter how frivilous, when they come.)

I think it has kind of grown on me -- three years ago, Johnny came home from the Mexico Mission trip all excited about the bus trip home (that's a first) where the bored high schoolers had thrown together an impromptu version of AI, which they called, "American Bus". Gabriel Halpin ended up winning that one with his ever-popular rendition of "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Since that humble beginning, American Bus has taken on a life of it's own, each year becoming a little more refined. Last year, Jordan Rose added a Ryan Seacrest element and started interviewing contestants. I wasn't on the trip last year so I missed seeing Catie sing, in honor of one of AI's more memorable tryouts, "I Am Your Brother", dedicating it to her brother Johnny.

As American Bus took root in my consciousness, so did American Idol. Last year I watched most of the final shows, and was actually very opinionated about which David should win...and he did.

This year, we have watched every episode from the beginning. We now have AT&T U-Verse, which enabled Scott to record the entire season in one operation, so we have the ability to fast forward commercials if we aren't able to start it on time. Notice I say "we". That leads me to another reason I'm so hooked on this show -- my kids love it. It is something we enjoy as a whole family -- even the pets are cuddled up with us as we sit down to watch. (Gotta love that Jody).

Another reason I am hooked is the relationships I've formed with these contestants as the season has progressed. Pitiful, I know. But the show effectively draws in those of us who root for a team because we follow its players. Some of these contestants have very compelling stories and it's hard not to get a little emotionally involved. One of the reasons I hated to see Alexis Grace leave last night is how likeable she appeared in the behind-the-scenes interviews. She also reminded me of Kelly Ferguson, and since she was one of our favorite babysitters back in the day, it was hard for me not to pull for Alexis. Plus she could sing!

My girls think Adam Lambert is amazing. I think he's entertaining, and would miss the element of surprise he brings to the show. He was featured on my facebook advertisement side bar recently letting me know 3 of my fb friends had joined his fan group. I clicked on the highlighted line to see which of my friends it was, fully expecting to see one of my daughter's names -- they weren't listed, but Russ East was! That made me chuckle! Johnny likes to bash Adam because he knows it bugs his sisters. We are all fans of Danny -- haven't joined the facebook fan group, but we like him and wish him great success none-the-less. We all think Michael seems like a really nice guy, but are frankly surprised that he's lasted this long. Allison is so cute -- she just reminds me of Fionna on Shrek in a cute sort of way -- and boy can she sing! Scott is very inspirational, not sure if his voice will carry him too far, but inspirational and enjoyable none-the-less...

I think my final reason I look forward to American Idol is because it is just frivilous -- it is like a bit of junk food for my brain and sometimes a bag of chips or a candy bar just hits the spot.

Go Danny!