Nobody Daily - 5/27/08

DANCING WITH AMERICAN IDOL

Nobody Asked Me But:

What is it with talent shows anyway? What do other people see that I can’t? The night before my trip to Arizona last week, I lost my wife to Dancing With The Stars. The next evening in Arizona my daughter and grandkids were cheering on the next American Idol. I mean, what am I anyway, chopped liver?

Actually anything but chopped liver. I hate the stuff. Why once when I was a kid…never mind. No vomit stories here.

Of course, talent shows like “Idol” are nothing new. Here’s that “when I was a kid” again, but it’s true. Back then they were all over the radio and later the television map. Both Arthur Godfrey in the 40s and Dick Clark in the 50s made a run at me. They had me dreaming of an ing career. Singing. Dancing. I ended up teaching.

In the classroom my role changed. I became a searcher. I discovered some monstrous talent – or was it just some talented monsters?

So that is the key to the popularity of these shows. I think it is that many people love to live vicariously on the dreams of others. Me. I snore when I dream.

And what do those skimpy costumes have to do with dancing?



Post Script: I say a sad farewell to one of my favorite directors, Sidney Pollack. He is responsible for many classics including my favorite CIA-type film, the underappreciated “Three Days Of Condor.”