American Idol: A New Perspective From A TV Curmudgeon

Yes, I freely admit it. Prior to this season, I thought American Idol was crap. Pure, steamy, unadulterated and icky poo, like 98% of all the other programming on the tube, save for The Golf and Weather Channels.

Along came Kris Allen.

I don't know Kris. I've never met him. A few months back though, I heard of him. A young member of our sales trainee team at work, Katy, was excitedly preparing for her wedding. She was giddy. All her friends were giddy for her. "Tell me about your fiance," I said. "He's the best," she replied, adding that he was still a student at UCA (The University of Central Arkansas), and that he really wanted a career in music somehow, some way.

Yep, fiance, now husband, Kris Allen.

Then, she talked about the stuff she was working on for our company, and the same unbridled enthusiasm came through -- perhaps not as intently as when she was talking about Kris, their new apartment, the wedding and the pending excitement around all that. Ours is a company full of wonderful people. Talented, hard-working, dedicated, caring -- they're the reason we win. And, this young class -- the Katy Allen's and Dana Lund's of the world, well they secure us for the future... Even as I've become more cynical than I ever intended to, I remember that morning, thinking, wow, these are some really talented young people in this row of cubes -- and Katy, one of the two "new kids on the block," fit the bill -- in fact, she was gonna be one of the really good ones.

So, along comes American Idol. My wife loves it. Our nine-year-old, oldest of The Three, who loves music and the stage, really got in to it. One of the contestants was from a church right here in MKE. "Oh, and, hey, I wonder if there's any chance that that young kid from Arkansas is Katy's husband..." I thought.

Whodda thunkit?

Long story short, I don't like the tag "Idol," and I think the show is somewhat over-baked, but what I know now that I didn't before is that there's a young lady I've met who's living a once-in-a-lifetime beginning to a once-for-a-lifetime marriage. There's a handsome young man from Conway, AR, USA, who's dad isn't afraid for the whole world to see how proud he is of him. I also believe that his dad's pride in him is exactly the same as it was before the show. You get a feel for true quality that penetrates even cynics like me. There's a young guy in Milwaukee who finished third, but now has a whole new means of honoring his late wife -- not just with his talent, but with the stage that's been provided by this show. My wife and daughter watch it together, and my daughter asks us what we think, and we talk about it together.

So, some weeks later, I am a fan. I watch it now. It's fun. It might still be crap, but for the people whose lives have been changed, I bet their arguments to the contrary are much deeper than my suspicion of crappiness. In an era without a "M*A*S*H*," or a "Cheers," or even a "Seinfeld" or "Friends," and with the exception of CBS' Golf Coverage with David Feherty and Gary McCord, it's by far the best thing on TV.

I hope Kris wins, and not just because I have a "connection." He reminds me of Phil Mickelson (see an earlier post to this blog), in that he clearly knows he's blessed, he knows he's talented, but he doesn't think that makes him special, and every time he opens his mouth, his dad has reason to be proud of him. I also hope Kris wins because Adam, despite being a wildly talented artist himself, just feels to me like Todd Marinovich with eye-liner, and I like the understated manner of Kris and the Family Allen more.

I also keep hearing Katy's voice in my head. "He's the best. He'd really like to have a career in music..."

Clearly, he will, and I bet he would have, even without American Idol. And I bet his wife still turns out to be one of our best, if she wants to.