What’s with the American Idol obsession? Is it the music, the powerful voices of the talented and determined? Is it the heroic feats of sweat and nerves, the rags-to-riches stories, the interest we have in the once obscure personalities that are, for a time, the 24 most-famous people in the world? Is it that Simon Cowell is such a stud muffin? (Because he is.) Or is there a darker truth going on here?

What concerns me is that maybe we’re also suckers for the agony and defeat, the brutality, the demoralizing way dreams are publicly ripped apart, squashed, like so many squirming little bugs. Tell me you don’t watch the pain in the faces of the BOTTOM TWO contestants, as they huddle together like homeless refugees, their hands locked together in wait, poised to hear “how America voted”. We,the viewers are mesmerized by their final performance as they walk off the stage in defeat. Only ONE can make it? If so then, isn’t the Idol message, beneath the sparkle and makeup, rather disheartening? Is it true that only the tiniest handful of us are….special?

Okay, I’m as guilty as anybody else, watching the carnage with the rest of the pathetic, winter-weary world. I make my bets, recognizing immediately the wrong song choices, wondering who suggested that musical arrangement, tolerating the group performances, loving and hating Ryan Seacrest. I’m always screaming at the television. Perhaps a lot less now that Paula is gone. Given my angst, I genuinely like the newer format of the competition and the current panel of judges. I think the show has a lot more polish. Yet I think it’s more cruel. What film crew HAS to follow anyone into the bathroom to observe their horrible sobbing behind the stall door? Good TV? Crap, bring me back Bikini Girl.

As an artist, it just pisses me off to hear it said that not making it to American Idol is “the end of the road”. No it ain’t. And I hate it when some contestant is told, “dude, you can’t sing”. Or “you look dated”. Or “you’re forgettable”. Who says? Four well-paid people from Hollywood and sixty million teenagers with unlimited calling minutes? Please! Take a walk back in time and away from the TV set for a minute. Seriously, “No” has never stopped real talent, ever. It can’t. Look at the long list of artists and other creatives…look at what these people have gifted to us through their work. History is rich with the many who didn’t let “NO” be the last word. But does harsh rejection have to be the only way? Are there better methods to challenge us to be greater, to reach higher for our star? Yes, there are.

There’s a place for every voice and every song. But somehow this message doesn’t get much play. Instead, we associate success with fame. Hmmm, not the only way, people. Putting billions behind someone’s career doesn’t guarantee a thing. Go stand in the checkout line and peruse the celebrity heartbreak section, splayed out in magazine pictures and headlines every week. Fame and the right agent won’t make it perfect. It’s too easy to get someone’s attention: Think “Pants on the Ground”. Okay? A star can be born any number of ways. Think Lady Gaga. But a star has to shine from within to stay bright. And that shining has to be self-induced. Or it blacks out very fast.

Instead of American Idol, we need more Inside the Actor’s Studio, or some kind of show where creative people talk about their work, sitting with an audience, sans the glitz, sharing the trials, tribulations, and the perseverance that enabled them to get where they are. That on-going, focused effort allows them to do what they love. They can tell us that it never matters if the judges like your outfit this week. An opinion is not a benediction, regardless of who it comes from. But a dream is work. There’s no jumping ahead. It’s foundation, it’s resume. Incredible careers have legs because they are kept walking, that dream never rests. They prove that Making It is not a place. It’s an on-going activity. And they tell you that you don’t just keep going because someone said “you suck” and you want to prove them wrong. The only one you need to prove right is yourself.

America has idols everywhere, including thousands of fine artists who will never be hawking a Ford Taurus on the Fox channel. Their beautiful, unsung stories may not be told for generations but their legacy will be forever. I admire every one of them. Other artists give me courage in my imperfect, non-glamourous but worthwhile career which is mine to call finished or not. I don’t need four “yes’s” to go on to the next round. And neither does any one else who wishes to make art his or her life. Just keep moving toward your star, contestants. And shine, shine, shine anyway.

©Ann Haaland, 2010