American Sin

Once again, the scourge against music known as "American Idol" has returned fro it's eighth season, and people once again lined up, so desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame (or infamy) that I an again reminded why I believe this show is a condensed and apt epitome for much of what is wrong with America.
There is this idea that something in American culture must be like a shooting star (although far too often it turns out to be a comet, returning periodically), brilliant and shining for a few minutes, then dissipates and vanishes, leaving public consciousness forever. This disposable idea of our culture is what churns out these top-forty one-time wonders, who change as often as their styles. The music is banal and uninteresting, recycles top hits from past decades and creating more safe, non-thought provoking tunes to be heard for the next six to eight months, only to end up in rotation on the budget pop radio stations for the rest of their miserable lives, perfect for people who have no taste in music and don't care to develop it.
It's always the next new thing, leaving nothing to chance, crafting an image they can sell instead of letting creativity flourish naturally. Many talented singers/musicians/songwriters carved out a piece of popularity for themselves, it wasn't given to them on a Primetime platter. And they have staying power. The Rolling Stones and AC/DC still rock (and are still rocking) today, decades after they began. Does anyone remember what happened to the first winner of American Idol? The second? Last year's? The only reason Claiken is still in the news is because he finally came out of the closet, and now he will wash away into the sewers of has-been's and disposable stars.
The only thing sadder than the people who become obsessed with this show are the ones who try out, so deluded with the belief that they belong on the show that they will risk mass public humiliation at the hands of Cowell and his talentless cronies for a chance at some invisible means of success.
The only reason me or anyone I know watches the show is for the morbid curiosity of the impending train wrecks of the first episode. After that, it's all a pointless joke, a bunch of basically talentless ids with stars in their eyes ruining classic songs for the sake of FOX's ratings and some royalties for aging musicians, if they ever own the rights to their songs anymore.
And now I will have to avoid our local FOX affiliates almost daily story's about Idol and "Idol Mania," a nefariously bad term and idea. With so much going on in the world, is it truly necessary to have weekly segments about a popular TV show? Is it so important that we can put off talking about the important, harder things in life to expend time and energy on a fluff piece that makes me feel ill just thinking about it? Apparently so, when you feel you need something safe to draw in viewers.
I really hope that and fence-sitters on the Idol 'phenom' will please consider this and not waste another moment of your life on such a waste of airtime. There is nothing I would like more than to see this thing go away, resigned to the annals of TV history as another pop show finally deemed boring and useless by the American public. I better hope I live a long, long time.