Yes, Another "Idol" Rant

Oh Joanna, you are a brave person. If I were to live blog the audition phase of "American Idol," it would be all rant and no rave. When it comes to the auditions, I am a bitter pill indeed. You blogged with curiosity, grace, and humor. Bravo.

I just can't shake my disgust over the early "Idol" shows. How I despise watching deluded kids be humiliated and wounded for all of America to see. And how turned off I get watching Paula, Randy, and Simon sit back like fat Hollywood types and look self-satisfied while poor, pathetic dreamers stand lost before them. If only the judges were more affectionate to these losers; but no, they project contempt.

I said it here last month, and I said it in the pages of the Globe last year: "American Idol" can be the nicest of reality shows, as it shapes talent, but it can also be the cruelest. Certainly some of the kids who audition need to be jolted out of their belief that they have talent. I get it that Simon & Co. are doing some of them a favor. But I don't want to see people fall apart in shame and anger.

Watching them break down, I can't stop thinking of them watching themselves on TV and retreating even further into their crazy dream worlds.