I can't help myself!

Ok. Ok. So, I know it's kind of a dorky thing to admit to watching American Idol willingly, but I do. There. Now you know. And now that that is off my chest, I have something to say.
What is the DEAL with that girl Tatiana?!?! I mean, REALLY? REALLY?!?

For those blessed non-watchers (stay away from it, it's almost more addicting than Pringles) who don't know what I'm talking about, let me tell you.

There were two contestants from Puerto Rico, a very talented young man with a fairly strong accent, and a moderately talented girl who could've been from anywhere in the Midwest for all the Spanish accent she had. So the guy, Jorge, makes it through on his own and after his performance, one of the judges says to him, basically "I don't know why we told you at your first audition to tone down your accent, it makes you unique, I like it, keep it."

Skip to the next night, where Tatiana, the girl, is getting her second chance, having failed to please America the first time around. Lo and BEHOLD! All of the sudden she's speaking with a Spanish accent!! Thank goodness another one of the judges called her out on it, and what does she say? WHAT DOES SHE SAY?!?!

"Sometimes when I get emotional my accent comes out... like Jorge."

AAAAAHHHH!!! How can one person need fame so much that they constantly, blatantly tell bald-faced lies to squeeze a few more seconds out of the spotlight? It's beyond pathetic. Not only does she LIE LIE LIE, she tries to draw the positive comparison between her crazy self and someone who actually has a shot at winning! I have no words. All I can say is, if you haven't seen it, PLEASE look it up on fox.com or youtube.com so you can share in my outrage. Her place in that show was a waste; her spot should have gone to someone else (Kendall, in my opinion).

Deep breath.

So, to step back and take a larger, more dispassionate perspective, I do have to say that there is so much inherently wrong with that show that it really shouldn't matter. I shouldn't watch it. It is everything I hate about pop-culture. They don't pick based on talent, they pick based on package-ability. As the wonderfully wise Orson Scott Card pointed out in his recent review (http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2009-02-22.shtml), the producers of the show care less about good, original singers and more about good TV. I highly recommend his reviews, I thoroughly enjoy them, and thank you to Caroline for introducing me.

I have no idea what about that whole situation drove me to levels of frustration and anger so intense I felt the need to blow my cover and openly admit to watching the show, but it did, and now you know. I'm sorry if I came off a little harsh on this girl, but if you've ever witnessed someone pulling antics that make you want to stand up, point a quivering finger, and scream "THE AUDACITY...!!" and then trail off, speechless... you understand.