So after heartily patting myself on the back for posting not one, not two, but THREE whole days in a row I then backslid into my slovenly blogger ways and haven't posted since last Saturday. Not that I think there's anyone out there slavering for fresh content from this blog, but nonetheless I feel the need to apologize.
The thing is I just kind of got busy. What with my freelance job of transcribing raw footage from obscure reality shows (yes, I really do make money in this way), tending to my WIP, diapering the child, feeding the husband, trying to keep up with my resolve to keep our home more clean (not that it was ever truly filthy, but sometimes I would let the toys that my son feels the need to spread all over the place, stay, well - stay spread. Now I attempt to corral them back into their proper places twice a day. And I've been making the bed, something I haven't regularly done in well over a decade.), dressing in multiple layers and drinking insane amounts of hot tea to keep myself warm against the Arctic chill that seems to have spread across half the country (And I am in Knoxville, I don't even want to think about what the people further North must do to keep from freezing), and finally and perhaps most importantly I have spent four hours of my week watching American Idol.
Yes, it's true. I watch American Idol, and not just in that 'if I happen to be in front of the TV and it happens to be on' kind of way. No, I deliberately set my DVR to record the whole freaking season. I watch the auditions. I watch hell week in Hollywood (my favorite part, truthfully.) And then I watch every week of singing and eliminations. Although to be truthful, I usually fast-forward through three quarters of the elimination show.
I don't know when my AI addiction officially started.
I was barely aware of season one, and only watched parts of season two. During season three was probably when my interest increased. This was also the season that I ended up actually attending a live taping.
In retrospect it was not a super terrific experience. It was kind of one of those deals while during it you are thinking, "Yeah this is fun," mostly because you had anticipated that it would be fun. However, afterwards you kind of realize that it wasn't really truly all that fun. In fact it kind of sucked.
Here's how it went. While waiting outside on the sidewalk several hours before taping to pass the time my friend Melissa (who had gotten us the tickets through some sort of email lottery system) and I made posters (Mine was for Fantasia and hers was for LaToya).
The low point was getting a sunburn.
The high point was when Paula Abdul came by with some Entertainment Tonight cameras following her and talked to all of us in line. Paula asked us about our signs and we both had an opportunity to say something inane on camera like, "Whooo. Yeah, go Fantasia. She's gonna win!" The next day a friend from college said she had seen us on TV. You know, on second thought maybe that was the low point.
Years later when we finally got inside to see the actual taping of the actual show I was more interested in watching the Steadicam operators running around the contestants then I was in the actual show. Also our seats kind of sucked and it was loud. The kind of loud that leaves you with a headache to take home with you. (Sadly this was not the worst being in the audience for a live taping of a TV show experience I would ever have. That honor goes to my afternoon at NBC's shortlived - like only one or two episodes actually aired - Celebrity Cooking Showdown.)
Maybe that experience put me off Idol, because for the rest of that season and the next two, I barely followed the show. I might catch an episode here or there, but I couldn't sustain any long term interest in it.
Then along came Season 6 and without even intending to I ended up watching all the audition episodes, which meant I had to see what happened in Hollywood, and then I was one percent invested in the lives of the contestants and had no choice but to follow it through to the end. That was the year of Sanjaya, Melinda, and eventual winner Jordan Sparks. As far as talent went it was a lackluster year, but for drama - it was one of the best.
Season 7 I again watched from the beginning, and unless something tragic happens to my DVR (I love AI, but not enough to watch it in real time with all those endless commercial breaks) I will probably watch Season 8 all the way through as well.
So there it is - my American Idol confession in the full. In my defense I can say only one thing: I have never voted. Everyone must have a line, and that is where I choose to draw mine.
Anyone else want to confess to be an Idolaholic?
