'High School Musical:' Soft Landings

Turns out, ABC has a soft spot for the teenager's tender ego. That's the main lesson of "High School Musical: Get in the Picture," the ABC summer contest, hosted by a cheery Nick Lachey, that will pick one young star to appear in a music video during the broadcast of "High School Musical 3." This constitutes being "part of the High School Musical Family," which is apparently the goal, not just of every 12-year-old girl in America, but of every member of a high school drama club. How do you quash those dreams? Very, very gently.

These next two weeks are the audition phases, which follow the tried-and-true formula of "American Idol," with a heavy coating of berry-flavored Children's Motrin to make it all go down easily. We see kids singing a capella at the cattle call auditions. We see judges apologetically sending them away, declaring that they "aren't ready." We see the kids fighting back their tears with smiles -- it's the Disney way -- and saying, "That's OK." In a few inexplicable cases, someone gets through to the semifinals, where he's treated just as kindly, even if he's cut. ("I'm sooooo sorry," says the contestant who forgets the lyrics of her audition song. "That's OK," says the judge, and she means it, even if she shouldn't.)

No "Idol" style freak shows here; the whole thing is more like a billboard for American wholesomeness. Eventually, the contenders are identified with lines like "Has a 4.4 GPA," "Takes all honors classes," and "Captain of the Drill Team" One of the early standouts is 17-year-old Anthony Acito of North Quincy High School, who leads the school's raucous pep rallies and turns out to have a sweet singing voice. Last night, he made it to the big show, which means he gets a ticket to "High School Musical School" and a boatload of TV exposure. Will he make it into a music video? Who knows, but he's well on his way to winning Mr. Congeniality. Seriously. This is the sort of show where everyone gets a trophy.