overrated

Is it just me, or is American Idol a little overrated this year? If you know me, or if you don't and you read this blog and have been doing so for at least a year, you know I'm an American Idol suck-uh. 

You also know I'm obsessed with my Belle, love Diet Dr Pepper, and cannot give up chocolate to save my life. Or my gut.

It's not just the auditions, which are hee-lair-ee-us, it's the whole concept. If you'd of asked me what I want to be when I grow up when I was anywhere from age four to ten, I'd have told you "a singer and a dancer." Not one or the other, both. Never mind my two left feet and my voice that resonates most regularly in the tenor register when I attempt to flex the golden pipes. That was my plan.

Even though I eventually found a different career path, and then this perfect path of motherhood that I wouldn't trade for anything, there's something about American Idol that tells me my dreams could still come true. I laugh at the silly auditions, but I really do have an inner cheerleading squad that wants the ones who can sing to succeed, to hit the high notes, to pick the right song, to avoid Simon's descriptions like "self-indulgent" (what does that mean really?) or "loungey" or "karaoke." 

But this year, I couldn't tell you a single contestant's name. There's that girl who sings with a smile, like non-stop, with a smile. And there's that guy with longer hair who took his shirt off for Kara in auditions. Oh, and the girl with dreadlocks, a guitar, and a harmonica (a "mouth harp," is that what the kids are calling it these days?). But I can't say I'm at all hooked like I usually am.

So, although American Idol is the figurative representation of my childhood dreams, I'm pretty sure I'll be choosing the figurative representation of sleep over Idol this year.