so you think you can sing

Having departed from the "art and stuff" posts to write a bit about cats and crafts, the next logical thing to catch up on, of course, is television. I haven't blogged much about my viewing habits of the past semester, but not to worry, I've been watching, and believe me, I've had my opinions. As any regular reader to this blog knows, I've never been a big fan of American Idol. But with the writer's strike coinciding with the need for some mostly mindless entertainment just about every evening, I decided to give it a go this season, bypassing the first three weeks of rejects, of course. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would for the first half of the season, I'd say. As the show was left with fewer and fewer contestants each week, though, I noticed my interest waning. I felt committed to watching for some reason, so I've stuck with it. There always seem to be a few contestants on competition-based reality shows that lose steam for one reason or another. You kind of forget what it was that made them interesting in the beginning (there's usually a very dramatic example of this on ANTM each season), but for the most part, the pool of contestants strengthens with each elimination. That's the idea, right? But on Idol, it seems almost completely widespread. The only contestant I can think of who I didn't get a little bored with, who actually seems to have improved over the course of the show, is Syesha, and she's probably the only reason I'm still watching. The thing that really gets me is how unfair the judges seem to be with her, telling her a particular song-choice is just not contemporary enough (is there anything even remotely contemporary about David Archuleta??) or criticizing her for doing something other than just standing there and singing. She's the only contestant who's even remotely interesting to watch, her rendition of "Fever" being a great example of her capabilities as a performer. Honestly, I think my main problem with this show is that I find watching people sing, particularly once they've been completely neutered by the show's totally bloated and over-commercialized production, incredibly dull. That's the great thing about So You Think You Can Dance (and I have more to say about this in a bit); you get the only enjoyable part of Idol, that is, listening to a familiar tune, but sung by the original, probably more talented artist, and, as a bonus, you get to watch a couple of hot dancers pop their booties to it! Anyway, as for all my other little gripes about the show, the reviewer in last week's issue of Entertainment Weekly was pretty much spot on, at least as far as I'm concerned. If all we're left with after tonight are the two David's, I'm not sure I'll bother to watch the finale next week.



What I will be watching, of course, is the two-hour premier of SYTYCD on Thursday. How the same channel and many of the same producers put out such vastly different shows is beyond me. Doesn't the teaser above simply give you chills? To each his (or her) own, I guess. Which reminds me, whenever I mention my love of SYTYCD to someone they assume I also watch Dancing With The Stars (which I most definitely do not, no offense to any readers who might). Well, I just happened to catch an episode a couple of weeks ago, which confirmed everything I was pretty sure I didn't like about that particular dance show. For one thing, it's all ballroom. I like ballroom as much as the next person, but the diversity of styles is definitely something I enjoy on SYTYCD. Not to suggest that the two shows are even comparable. Honestly, Dancing With The Stars is to SYTYCD what the slot machines in a roadside gas station in Fallon are to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. If you get my meaning.