Memphis and New York

You have got to admire the tens of thousands who showed up in these two cities for the American Idol auditions.
Naturally, we have some potential winners among them. The majority of which were average. A fair number was really vocally challenged. I guess that's one way to put it.
A small number shouldn't really have turned up. They dressed in strange costumes and probably wanted to impress their friends who were waiting at homse to see what they were up to.
Then, there must have been a few who took up the audition challenge as a dare by their friends. Overall, home viewers had their fun, Fox Network had their high ratings, and the three judges had some headaches.
There must have been some moments there when one or even all of them, Paula, Randy and Simon were wondering if it was all worth their time and money. This American Idol show has been going on for a better part of six years.
I guess the auditions are the most gruelling for the judges. Imagine, you have to sit through this compulsory chore for weeks and weeks and it involves a lot of travelling.
I can see the frustration on Simon Cowell's face. He's was really peeved at certain stages. Randy is an old pro. He would just pull a face and tried to be civil about the whole thing, especially when a particular candidate has forgotten the lyrics to the song.
Paula is surely one of the kindest people in front of the American Idol cameras. Hurting those who auditioned with insensitive and unnecessary remarks is certainly not her style.
The participants in generally are quite appreciative of Paula's kindness and understanding, as are most of us. All in all, the three judges are a good balance. Simon probably volunteered to play the bad guy role from the beginning.
I thought I heard Simon said: "This guy has just blew Taylor right out of the ballpark." Simon was referring to a male singer who was surprisingly good.
On this remark, some of us must presume that Simon is still not pleased about the results of the last American Idol contest where Taylor Hicks took the grand prize.
In this heart, Simon probably thought Katharine McFee was a much better singer.
Frankly,I agree with Simon Cowell but then this is American television entertainment. So when you "pass the buck" to the millions who sit in front of the TV with their mobile phones in hand, you are actually giving up the right to determine who will be the winner.
The other day, I caught Taylor Hicks on Larry King Live. Taylor candidly remarked that Simong never really liked him throughout the entire American Idol show. But Taylor being the gentleman he is, sugar-coated his remarks about his impression of Simon.
This is the spectacle as well as the unpredictability of reality programmes. The best does not always win. So being the eventual winner does not make that person the best person in the game. It simply means the winner had a bit of luck on his or her side.
Some skills cannot be denied and a whole lot of other factors that cannot be gauged by a ruler and a calculator.
Anyway, New York wasn't very impressive with its supply of willing singers and Memphis, despite being Elvis Presley's home, could do better, but it didn't.
This coming week, I was told, it's going to be Alabama where most of the American Idols come from. Is it something to do with the food and climate down in the South?
Perhaps it's their way of life that makes their voices better or maybe even the genes of those staying there. Who knows? I bet it's going to be interesting.
Meanwhile, after these years, those producing the show are gradually running out of ideas of how to capture the audience's attention. They have not re-invented the wheel, so to speak.
They don't really need to. People everywhere enjoying watching people from somewhere singing and dancing in their own homegrown styles. Of course, these vocalists are not world standard but they sure make our evenings entertaining and lively.
Hmmm... does that indicate a deep psychological need among the masses to get a reassurance that there are many people out there worse off than them. I really wonder.