"American Idol" is back!

Am I blogging it? Of course!

The show is an "integral part" of "American culture," we're told. By Seacrest, of course. Note: I like Ryan Seacrest.

They start off nicely with a lot of really good singers, then a few screwed up performances. They do an excellent job of creating a feeling that the country is full of really nice, optimistic young people. Some are deluded, but we love them and forgive. Some are terrific, and they always make us happy and want to reach out and embrace them. So, yeah, it's actually true that the show has become part of American culture. I know it's corny and edge-free. But still....

Lots of ultra-nastiness from Simon. He says they need a bigger stage after a fat woman sings (and does well). He tells a guy he should shave off his beard and become a female impersonator. But you know this sort of thing is trumped up. Simon must be mean. I just said the show is "edge-free," but now I remember that Simon is supposed to be the edge. He's pseudo-edge.... an integral part of the show.

Well, no one struck me that much tonight. There are an awful lot of kids who think singing very piercingly loud and emotively is the way to be good. It's bizarre to do that when you haven't had enough feedback yet. They just throw themselves out there, without any basic sense of where the notes are. And then there was that one girl who just threw herself into tanning, without any sense of proportion. She was a classic "American Idol" delusional.