Canadian Idol

Jun 01, 2008- Permalink

Canadian Idol returns on Tuesday…and I couldn’t care less. Ratings for it were down last season, as they were for American Idol this season.

The only winner I clearly remember in five seasons is Ryan Malcolm and that’s only because he was the first. There was some curly blond guy and a dark-haired girl. Yep, they’ve obviously etched their names and careers into popular culture.

I think it’s funny how all the various Idol shows trumpet the “idol” word, like somehow these people have been properly elected idols that the masses must bow down to. The way Seacrest intones “This is your American Idol” the way they say “The President of the United States” when the State of the Union address starts. Sadly, some force-fed TV watchers actually accept that these people must be idolized because they’ve been told repeatedly that they’re idols and they’re the best. No, they’re supposedly the best of the people who auditioned. That doesn’t mean some 17-year-old singer in Wichita who thinks the show is a joke can’t sing circles around the winners.

I worked at a part-time job that was chock full of actors and singers. One of the women who worked there, the type who’d dote on any of the contestants, wondered aloud why none of the people at this job auditioned for the show. One savvy university student summed it up well: “Because they want careers.”