speaking of American Idol . . .

Kevin Cowherd, one of many clueless Baltimore Sun columnists who get to prattle on about their demographic's not-particularly-observant observations, weighed in the phenomenon of American Idol in two columns these past two weeks. (Cowherd's columns fill the 'humorist' and middle-aged affluent guy slots for the paper; the first is stated, the second not. That's a bit harsh, actually, because as much as Cowherd isn't generous toward or particularly understanding of the world around him, he doesn't seem to be filled with the kind of hate one might expect from that characterization. In other words, he's not conservative talk radio or anything. But he will talk about golf handicaps like we can all relate)

Anyway, Cowherd's first column last week made the allegation that some of the contestants during this first round of auditions are, gasp, not entirely serious! This has been pretty obvious from early on, when you'd see numerous pranksters come on the show, some pretending to care about the reactions of the judges, and others not even bothering. Now, some who read the first column have had a chance to react and explain that no, the great thing about the show, Kevin, is that these people are really delusional. So Cowherd is now insisting that pretty much all the bad singers know that they're bad.

I agree that this is always a factor. (The Horshack-esque guy who basically recited Laura Branigan's "Gloria"? That was a clear entry in the 'prankster' category, and not particularly entertaining for it, either.) But you'd have to be deeply cynical to assume that every one of those awful but tear-stained attempts wasn't sincere. But the really combustible (or at least amusing) TV action here is the ones that fall through the cracks, where you have to watch closely to determine the delusional from the self-consciously absurd.

The girl in New York who either started to cry or feigned a breakdown, explaining that she was a great candidate because she couldn't sing - who can entirely determine her motivations? I think the guy with the one-and-a-half-note range singing "Amazing Grace" was there to support his cousin, who looked all the more better singing Sam Cooke moments later. The guy who juggled as much as sung and was incensed, I think that was genuine. And there was a disproportionate number of clueless, quiet white guy loners this year who spent too much time in their bedroom working on hopeless falsettos.

I usually skip this round of AI, but now I think maybe I like it more than the later portions. Which are of course about red state vs. blue state and any other America-in-microcosm idea you can throw at it. (Take that, Studio 60!)

unusual TV scoring choices rule

Just thought it was interesting that last night, out of all the songs that they could have closed the show with, American Idol used Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)." This was apparently a #1 hit in the UK in '75 (thanks, Allmusicguide), but it's pretty obscure in the States, and I hardly remembered where it was from when it appeared on the show. I wracked my brain for several minutes going through the possibilities, thinking of various British acts who either recorded in the early '70s or can evoke such a period. Elliot Murphy? That's not it. Badly Drawn Boy? Maybe someone like him with a recent record that I've barely ever played? I suddenly was able to connect it to the closing credits of Velvet Goldmine, and pulled my soundtrack CD, which I've probably played twice. Sure enough, that was it. I guess the lesson here is, given a little wiggle room, the people who score television shows still show depth of knowledge, taste and smarts. I'll remember this later in the year when you're pushing this year's equivalent to Daniel Powter on AI, or scoring 4 wordless minutes of some failing drama with Jeff Buckley's horrific rendition of "Hallelujah."