fracas

Fracas has been known to paint her posts with a flourish of the sarcasm and mockery brushes, ’tis true. I will write about celebrity and all things entertainment, yet I hold a certain disdain for them. It keeps the readers on their toes wondering if I’m serious or if I’m full of well… something Mike Rowe might be called over to feature on his show, Dirty Jobs.

There is one show I actually do enjoy though, and that’s American Idol. I enjoy it for probably all the wrong reasons though. Oh… and all of you out there, I’m giving you a damn order. I can bloody well be bossy (I’m sure you’re surprised at that) and this is going to be one of those times.

Stop booing Simon.

Are y’all nutters or are you just repressing some kind of “crush” on him and so insist you don’t like him to throw us all off the trail? Whatever the reason, didn’t your mom ever tell you that if your mouth is wagging, then your ears aren’t able to listen? When you boo him, you don’t hear what he’s really saying. The man makes sense. Smart contestants know this and listen, taking his advice and using the information to their benefit. As a society, we’ve become so politically correct, so Paula Abdul, that we believe we must always be nice and kind, even if we’re damn well lying to do so. No constructive criticism, no… we must make sure everyone at all times, only hears good things about themselves.

Take for example, a child of ours brings to us their drawings and asks, “Mom, is this good?” Well, the drawing has good points and bad points, but because we think we must always say good things, we say, “Yes, child, your drawing is beautiful.” The child then continues to draw that particular object and scene, exactly as they have because their mom said it was beautiful. Think of how much more empowering it would have been had the mom said, “Yes, child, your trees and your riverbank are spectacular but I think you should work on the waterfall a bit more because I’m pretty sure you’re a good enough artist to capture it a bit better or differently.”  The child learns to trust that they will receive honest praise and honest constructive advice which will only help them better themself. Had the child only heard that it is all beautiful, they would learn the truth once someone else told them their waterfall sucked. 

A perfect example of that is the girl who auditioned thinking she was a great singer, while outside, her two friends were telling the interviewer that she sucks… but that they’d convinced her she was good by telling her so repeatedly. People will believe what they want, not what is apparent and if we aren’t truthful, we cease to be helping them.

Next time you want to boo Simon, shut up and listen to what he’s really saying first.

That aside, I’m going to post incessantly about American Idol again. I’m sure there will be some controversy like the Antonella Barba nude pictures; I’m sure there will be the equivalent of the Sanjaya character again. I could probably even tell you who it will be (cough-Danny), but what I’m going to write about (though when this year’s controversy hits I surely will write about that too) is the actual competition. I didn’t do that last year, I focused mainly on the controversies.

And I want to get in on the ground floor this year as saying I think the folks over at Vote for the Worst just don’t get it.

The pleasure I get from watching this show, isn’t who wins in the end at all, it’s in getting to see and enjoy the performances along the way. Many of these are from people I’d never have seen or heard from were it not for the show, and for that… I give the show credit. I really don’t care who wins. I’m the winner for getting to enjoy the performances up to, and that… is something that the folks at Vote for the Worst just don’t get.

Or maybe they do. Maybe the whole reason for their existence is that they’ve found a way to turn some formerly unknown people (themselves) into a big ole internet success? Maybe they’ve shown us that they, just like every contestant who auditions for the show were really all after the same thing… to use the show to gain some fame for themselves.

So maybe the folks over at Vote for the Worst, are just like all those contestants they love to poke fun at?

Isn’t that a kicker.

So… if you’ve been someone sucked into the whole Vote for the Worst thing, fracas is asking you to think about it, and maybe this year… Don’t Vote for the Worst, just enjoy the performances and let people vote for who they want to vote for. In the end, it doesn’t really matter because the real talent always ends up finding a place in the sun, regardless of where they place in the final results.

And that… is how life should be.