"Idol"ing Around! huddla-huddla

It's that time of the year where the ice and snow have taken the fine denizens of New England hostage. A time where the days and nights all meld together in a frigid infused time continuum of hostility and lost hope. With everybody longing for warm weather and - God willing - sunlight after 5 PM, all we have readily available to us hopefuls is American Idol.

Now, I haven't been a fan of the show for many seasons, and it doesn't seem that I will be joining the masses in watching week after week. But after hearing about this go-getter who in a flurry of passion and dejection offed herself in front of judge Paula Abdul's home, I was on board for this year's competition faster than you can say "Soul Patrol"!

From what I can gather, the season started off in Phoenix, Arizona where a stadium packed with thousands of young and wistful contestants show off their singing talents to the usual FOX camera crew and the three judges you have all grown to know and love. Before you go and tell me that this is the same old song and dance, I will tell you this my friends, the geniuses at American Idol have enlisted the relatively unknown Kara DioGuardi to act as the fourth judge. I can't contain myself. Seriously, I am bubbling with anticipation!

So for those not in the know, the premise is this: a young contestant will perform for the judges, and if they perform well enough, will go off to Hollywood (dawg) and will have to pass yet another test of performances before moving on to the final stages to where the singer will basically grovel to the viewers while singing drag show revue worthy renditions of popular songs. To the lucky finalists, they will be held restricted to pursue any creative outlets due to the iron-clad contracts they must sign in order to be featured on the show.

This season looks like it began just as similar to season's past, where the usual roster of strange and wacky no-singing hacks are displayed on parade while some people who can sing in key get peppered in to remind you that, yes, this really is a competition. While I don't understand why the producers keep showing the real lousy performers, I do get that they keep these people in order to drive ratings and they seem to have people talking about the show. But seriously, the more they show these common-sense dropouts who are desperately looking for their shot at fame, the more they are encouraging this type of behavior. 

Which leads me to Bikini Girl. What better way to drive the point home than her? I am sure she's a nice gal and probably is a real cut-up once you get to know her, but it's honestly an advertisement to whore yourself out in order to get the attention of everybody in the room. While she didn't have much clothes on, she should have covered up her performance with something to keep us from listening to it. Luckily, there was a payoff at the end where after winning her "golden ticket" ambushed Ryan Seacrest with a well-placed smooch by the pool. Poor Ryan couldn't squirm away and you could see him almost vomit after being plagued by "yucky girl germs".

For something to go to bed with a smile on your face, a heartwarming story of a legally blind man who dreams of becoming the next American Idol. Despite my hopes of him stinking up the joint, Scott MacIntyre actually did a good job, for a blind guy. Who knows what's in store when he moves on the next round, let's hope that choreography and pyrotechnics are not involved in it.

Scott MacIntyre, world sun-stare record holder.

Well, that's is enough for now. Will I keep interest long enough to keep posting updates? I am not too sure, but I can tell you this, I was losing interest at a rapid pace while writing this, so the future looks bleak.