Why Watch American Idol Season 7?

I'll be the first one to admit that I have questionable taste in music, TV, and especially movies, but American Idol is something that I'll defend until the show reaches its series finale, whenever that may be.

I've been an avid Idol fan since Season 1, only missing performances during Season 5, most of which I've since caught up on via YouTube. With Season 7 just around the corner, I recently got into a conversation at work where someone asked me why I was still so into the show six years after its premiere in the United States.

And no, it's not just because of Carrie Underwood...
Though this picture makes me think that's enough reason....

No, not just the rumors of Baylie Brown trying out again.

The thing that I like, actually love, about American Idol is that it's one of the few television shows in the U.S. that anyone could talk about with anyone and people would understand what you're talking about. They might not be watching that particular season or they might be unfamiliar with your favorite Idol, but most everyone has seen the show. People know what it's about and chances are they've followed at least one of the seasons to a moderate level and maybe even voted for an Idol or two.

I think that I legitimately have about 100 channels on my cable TV plan right now, which I know pales in comparison to people who have DirecTV or some kind of "All the Best" (AKA "All Your Loot") cable package from Time Warner. With cable TV fragmenting the television audience more and more with all these niche channels, there are so few programs that "everyone watches," these days.

Now I know that the upper middle class, college educated audience likes to say that "everyone" watches The Colbert Report and The Daily Show and always likes to say that "more people get their news from Colbert and Stewart than they do from network news" for some reason when they're trying to make a point (which is completely not true if people would actually check the ratings...as these were always some of the more idiotic statements I ever heard from liberal fist-pumpers in one of my classes), but really, it's only a small population of people that attracts a smaller audience than professional wrestling that watch those programs.

Kicks Colbert's ass

And yes, "everyone" in the literal sense does not watch American Idol. But I don't think I would be taking too big of a gamble when saying that close to a majority of our population has seen at least one episode of the singing/popularity competition. We're in a new era where there won't be 30 million people tuning in to see the last episode of a TV show. Remember when Seinfeld aired its final episode and everyone was wondering if it was going to top Cheers? That's never going to happen again. Even The Simpsons, currently television's longest running sitcom, whenever it ends, will not even come close to the numbers that Cheers had for its final episode. This isn't because it's not as good of a show (though most would argue that it's lost some of its luster), but it's because we're just in a different era of TV.

Those happy days are gone...
And Michael Richards is racist...
Or he just has an anger management problem.

Gone are the days when "everyone" watched one show. There is no Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, but there's Leno, Kimmel, Chelsea, Letterman, Colbert, and Stewart. There's no Dallas, but there's Grey's, Desperate, LOST, Friday Night Lights, Sopranos (RIP), Sex and the City (RIP), Entourage, Six Feet Under, Weeds, Gossip Girl, Smallville, Brothers and Sisters, Boston Legal, House, ER, Prison Break, and 24. But with Idol, we get pretty close. People generally know what the show is about and because the show reaches such a disproportionate mass of people compared to many other television programs, people continue hearing about it and reading about it.

Call me nostalgic, but I think that's awesome.

Yes, so the show is filled with sponsorship and cheesy music videos. Through all the clutter, there are a lot of diamonds in the rough as Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, Clay Aiken, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Fantasia Barrino, Josh Gracin, and more have proven through their commercial success.

It begins... [Kelly Clarkson]


It continues... [Kelly Clarkson]

People say that they're annoyed with the "bad auditions," but I feel like they're comic relief for all the serious stories and serious talent that comes to the auditions. Without the silly auditions, the show would feel like a musical version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

And a lot of them are really unique [Blake Lewis]

And memorable [Blake Lewis' Virtual Insanity].

If you don't like the music, singing, smiles, or general upbeat nature of the show, then that totally makes sense. Clearly, the show has been proven to find a commercially successful artist that will appeal to the masses through its voting system. If you love underground hip-hop or dark rock music, chances are the show won't really do anything for you. However, for what it is, I love how American Idol can be one of the few shows left that you can strike up random conversation about with pretty much anyone.

While it sounds like there will be a return to focusing on the contestants for the upcoming season, much like what was done this season with So You Think You Can Dance, with the performances, features, personalities, and music that await us come January, I cannot wait for American Idol Season 7.

The So You Think You Can Dance tour rolls on without me in the audience...

And that makes me sad.

At least we have this world of user-generated content to keep me from feeling like I'm really missing out, though seeing Lauren and Pasha perform at the beginning of this clip kind of breaks my heart.



And obviously, it would be exciting to be screaming alongside whatever girl or screaming boy took this video at Lacey and Kameron's contemporary Mia Michaels performance.

Quick Step Showdown: So You Think You Can Dance vs. Dancing with the Stars

In this corner...

Jennie Garth and Derek Hough representing ABC and Dancing with the Stars!


In the far corner...

Lacey and Kameron representing FOX and So You Think You Can Dance!

Because I am incapable of complaining for more than a few minutes...

This past Saturday and Sunday morning, I went to "Salsa boot camp" in South Los Angeles. While it was in the hood and I didn't really learn a whole lot (I just cleaned up a lot of my steps), it was a lot of fun - so much fun that my right calf muscle is absolutely killing me today. It ended up being 4 hours a day of Salsa review for me, but I really enjoyed it regardless.

One of the most fun things about Salsa dancing is being able to teach people who are also trying to learn if you manage to get a step or a move a little quicker than they do. Later, chances are, they'll return the favor.

Someday...

I'm going to start taking additional classes from Mary Scanlon, who is currently the dreamboat of a salsa teacher who teaches classes at USC. I'm really excited about it.

This post would have been longer, but stupid Blogger's image uploading went down.

Everyday that passes, I get a step closer to moving my site over to WordPress.

Grammys, Emmy Party, American Idol finale, but... no So You Think You Can Dance Tour

Blogging So You Think You Can Dance is keeping up with the SYTYCD tour this summer/fall and I cannot say that I'm not extremely jelly (jealous) of all the people who get to go!

I wasn't able to get tickets to the LA show at the to-be-opened Nokia Theatre that my friend Art is actually working on, but I suppose there's always StubHub. Here some some of the cool videos that fans have posted on YouTube that BSYTYCD has gathered up.

Hok, Dominic, and Sara doing a breaking routine.

Lacey and Kameron performing Dancing, their Mia Michaels routine.

Oh Lacey Mae, you're a dreamboat.


One of my favorite performances from the season - Lacey & Neil's Lindy Hop.

MTV has also been marathon-ing SYTYCD all weekend, which I hope becomes a regular thing like they do with America's Next Top Model.

One of the things that kept SYTYCD so great all season was how we really got to "know" the contestants through these videos. Each contestant had a distinct character and it made you get really attached to your favorites (mine being Lacey and Dominic). While there are a ton of reality/contest shows out there that I watch and love, few did it as well as SYTYCD this past season.