From the unpleasant to the trivial.

By unpleasant, I imply the sadness in the pictures of the post below. The trivial? Observations about American Idol.

So far the shows seems to be on course. There is your regular level of absolute nut crackers and then there are those who inspire a wow. Last year, during the auditions, I declared to my wife, "She's the next American Idol." Pray tell, who was I talking about? Dianne DeGarmo. I was close, she ended-up being the runner up. So far, I am not sure. But they had a lady on yesterday, who's lived on a farm all her life and sang a country tune. She was pro quality. She had the look. I have her in my top 12. Not that she's better than the rest, but first off, she did not feel the pressure to perform, just to sing, and if you listened without watching, you would have thought you were listening to the radio.

That said, I have been impressed with the quality. I just thought last year's crew was so so. I'd like to have a solid 12 pack this year. The show is fun when all the final twelve singers are legitimate contendas. "I could'a been a contenda!"

The one thing that bothers me about the show is that you have people with legitimate mental ailments receiving an audience for what they need to be hospitalized for. I think they should have a mental health evaluation team available and based on behavior, people should be required to promise to seek professional help. Sure enough, some people are acting up, but some are genuinely confused and it is not funny to have people laughing at them. What if one of them has a Carrie Fischer moment?