Thursday, January 18, 2007

A doctor watches American Idol

I've been trading posts with Dr. Mary Johnson about American Idol, and I confess it's one of my guilty pleasures. Actually, once the season gets going it's not so guilty, since it is a showcase for some genuine talent and great performances (not in the PBS vein), and it's fairly family-friendly too. But the early "audition round" shows have been more of a freaks-and-geeks spectacle, bordering on mean-spirited. Last night's show in Seattle was fairly over-the-top even by Idol standards, and host Ryan Seacrest remarked as much. Unfortunately, it also offered a chance for my inner evil doctor--um, Dr. Evil?--to emerge and make off-the-cuff assessments.
That very tall woman, 6'4" (6'7" in heels), with a really nice voice...disqualified from the Air Force due to a heart condition...long spindly fingers...almost certainly Marfan's.
The guy at the end..."Big Red"...odd affect and speech...schizotypal personality disorder?
The dark-haired guy with delusions of N'Sync grandeur, who Simon thought looked like a lemur...well, ya got me there.

Oh, great. Now I feel doubly guilty about watching the show.

2 comments:

Dr Mary Johnson said...

As well you should, Dr. Evil:)

Rosie is right. If Idol skipped all of the mean-spirited stuff (against those who are tragically misguided about their true talents) in the beginning, and instead featured more genuinely gifted wannabes . . . with a better shot at winning . . . the show would likely have just as many viewers.

Medical curiosity aside, the outtakes I saw (on the news of all places) were disturbing . . . and said something very ugly, I think, about how low American TV can go. The question is, does the public drive the bottom-feeding . . . or follow?

I don't watch the show. I just don't understand the phenomenon.

Mathew said...

This won't truly have success, I think this way.
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