Why I'm breaking up with American Idol

I'll admit it - I've watched American Idol since season one. I didn't catch the whole thing, but by the time I started tuning in, there were about six or seven contestants left. And I've watched most of every season since. I say "most" because I tended to lose interest in most of them, and stopped watching by the time there were only a few contestants left. You gotta admit, the show is basically the same every week. People sing. A good chunk will butcher their chosen song. A few others will be good, and one, two or maybe even three if you're lucky will be amazing. This is one of the reasons why TiVo was invented. So you could fastforward through all the crap in American Idol.

This season began for me like all the others. I started watching. Even with Paula gone and Simon leaving, I went back to it like an old familiar friend. The auditions rounds were pretty standard. Hollywood week is my favorite, and it was pretty enjoyable. But once the top 24 were chosen, my already waning interest in the show pretty much died completely.

Why? Well, there are several reasons.

1. I'm not digging Ellen as the new judge. Don't get me wrong - I really like Ellen. I just don't like her on the show. I don't think she makes a good judge and I really miss the unpredictable antics of Paula Abdul. Nothing could replace that.

2. The talent this season mostly sucks. Every year they put a bunch of people through who clearly are getting pushed ahead by the producers. And America is stupid and will vote for these people because they are voting with their hearts instead of their ears. But this year, after hearing Randy proclaim "Most talent ever" like 40 times like he does every year, I quickly realized he was clearly lying. Big time. I haven't watched any of the top 24 performances. I haven't had time, so I've been reading the recaps and I was planning to go back and watch them from my DVR later. Well the recaps proclaimed pretty much every performance bad, and not only bad, but terrible. So why would I waste my time? And I'm not going to fast forward through 45 of bad singing just to see one good performance. Not worth it.

3. Which brings me to something that has never happened before. Probably the biggest reason I stopped watching American Idol is that I just don't care about any of the contestants. Not enough. Every year there's always a contestant or two that I really like and want to root for. And I'll tune in faithfully at least until they get eliminated. But this year...I was drawn to no one. And the repeated reports of subpar performances is maybe a good indicator as to why. So if I don't care, and most people aren't delivering anything worth watching, why is it worth my time?

So right now this season is a total wash for me. Oh, I'm sure I'll keep tabs on it. It's American Idol - I always do. I can't help myself. It's habit. But as far as actually watching it again... I'm sorry. It's over. And since Simon will be gone next season, I'm done.

I'm sorry, American Idol. I appreciate the entertainment you've given me over the years. But I just don't feel that spark anymore.

Oh, and it's totally you. Not me.

I (heart) Netflix and Broadway

More trip report will be coming up in the coming days. But I needed to take a break from that for a bit.

I signed up for Netflix awhile ago, and after the free trial was over I kept it. I have the cheapest plan - one DVD and unlimited streaming. I use the streaming the most. Between the PS3 and our Netflix enabled Bluray, it's really handy to have so many movie and TV shows ready to watch whenever I want. The streaming library grows all the time - just today I discovered they have Into the Woods! Into the Woods!! Really?! That isn't exactly a common movie to have. When it comes to musicals their selection leaves a lot to be desired, but there are a couple of good choices and I'm sure there will be more as time goes on. (Where is Show Boat?! I know it's old as hell and probably never came out on DVD, but come on! Find a way!)

I've been on a bit of a Broadway kick lately, which is evident in what I've watched on Netflix streaming lately:

Stagedoor - A documentary about the musical theater camp in upstate NY. It was interesting, and a quick watch.

Life After Tomorrow - This was an interesting and slightly disturbing documentary about the girls who were in Annie during the 70's and early 80's on Broadway and on tour. (Including Sarah Jessica Parker - totally forgot she was in that.)

Broadway: The American Musical - this was a six part series that originally aired on PBS, I believe. Hosted by Julie Andrews, it chronicles the history of Broadway from the turn of the century until like 2004. Very interesting and entertaining.

Singin' in the Rain - Can you believe I had never seen this before? It was really good - Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Man. Stars don't have talent like that these days. And Gene Kelly was like 40 when that movie came out and he's dancing all over the place.

Besides being on a musicals kick, I'm also on a old movie kick. I plan to watch a bunch in the coming weeks... I'm sick of new movies. Most of them suck. Why can't people write a story any more? It seems to be we're just relying more and more on special effects and computers to tell our stories for us...which is impossible.

I have seen two new movies lately - The Hangover and Zombieland. Both were good. The Hangover was amusing and entertaining but not the non stop laugh-a-thon people make it out to be. I only laughed out loud a handful of times. (I do, however, finally get what's so hot about Bradley Cooper. Yum.) So over hyped, but still good. Zombieland was amusing, the perfect length and not very gory for a movie about zombies.

That's about it for now - FYI, if you set up a station on Pandora Radio for Wicked (Original Broadway Cast) you mostly seem to get music from Rent, Disney movies and Glee. (And Wicked, of course!) That's what I've been getting with my latest station, anyway.