THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL: This season is different. How different? Let's go from the obvious to the subtle, as the final thirty-two are now set:
1. The judges and producers have acknowledged that one need not be a size two to be a pop superstar in the making. Based on some of the selections for the final thirty-two, both male and female, this year's is a competition Aretha Franklin could have won. It's about damn time. Go Frenchie!
2. Narrative. There is one this year. Tonight's episode in particular started to build the tension between some of the competitors -- the girls who ditched the fourth member of their audition group because they were afraid of competing against her, the Terrence Trent D'Arby wannabe who stayed out the night before the audition partying but made it through anyway, we're learning more about these people than last year as we enter the audience participating phase; and,
3. Audience. Last year, American Idol was a slow buildup. Many viewers didn't get hooked until the semifinals, if not the top 10 finals stage. This time, there are already more people watching than saw 2002's final episode.
What does that mean? It means that viewers are going to be taking these narratives with them and remembering who these people are before they start singing for their (show business) lives next week. It means that no matter how well Kimberly Caldwell sings next week -- and she is fabulous -- viewers are going to remember how poorly she treated co-auditionist Julia DeMato this week, and they're going to vote on that basis, not the singing merits. Which is fine, I guess, because it's good to have pop stars who are decent people.
I mean, it's better than having a reality tv star who got her start making stroke videos for fetish addicts, isn't it?
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