I'd vote for Chris

Confession time: I watched American Idol last night and liked it.

I haven't watched the show since they crowned Kelly Clarkson, who by the way did go on to produce a handful of undeniably good hits. Act like you don't turn "Since U Been Gone" up and sing along when you hear it. I have had to pretend that her progressive thinness and blondness has not directly correlated to her increased fame. I just can't help but like her and all that love-who-you-are independent woman stuff she touted. In fact, I think I need to download a few of her songs right now....

The next season didn't do much for me, although I guess I should have been supporting Reuben who hails from the 205. My hometown had Reuben Fever - my family included - but I guess there is always some element of surprise and obligatory support when someone from Alabama hits fame outside of football. (Rumor has it another Bama boy got pretty far on Idol? Oh, and I just discovered that a dude from this season was born in the 'Ham. Dang, who knew?)

Anyway, I got bored with American Idol and the hype it produced. Mainly I was disgusted by how they paraded obviously bad singers in front of the cameras to draw in viewers (i.e. William Hung - and didn't he get astronomically albeit temporarily famous for his horrible rendition of some Ricky Martin song?) Plus, I didn't care about the dynamic between Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. I feel like just admitting that Simon is a nasty, hateful human being just fuels the argument that his schtick sells. It does. He's usually right and his delivery makes people love to hate him.

And even though I try to avoid Fox and everything it stands for - have you noticed all their shows come with a "viewer discretion advised"? - I was hooked on Idol last night. I found myself talking back at the judges - at one point Paula cried and Simon got cut off by the theme music - and deciding which singer I would vote for. With the talent, or lack thereof (um, that blond Southern girl who struggled through her love song last night? Ouch.), the drama of the judges, the catchy theme music - I can see why so many millions of people watch it each week. I must say I hope my interest in the show is fleeting, but I had to admit it was entertaining.