[cgk]

Wow. This is exactly the kind of mindless drivel I have to fight to convince my 12 year old daughter is better left turned off.

[cyncooper]

Wow. This is exactly the kind of mindless drivel I have to fight to convince my 12 year old daughter is better left turned off.

American Idol? Why?

I watch it with my daughter and we have fun doing it. We rate the performers and she is learning how a person can graciously accept criticism. If a contestant gets smart alecky when criticized, it is my nine year old who deducts points.

It really is harmless fun and while I certainly am not saying you should watch it (who cares), it is not mindless drivel. (Unless all entertainment falls into that category for you.)

[Cordova Belle]

The redeeming factor about American Idol is that the participants do, actually, have a tremendous amount of talent, and the reward for watching is to enjoy seeing amateurs go on live TV and render performances to equal what we've heard from mega-stars. I have tremendous respect for them---not to mention thoroughly enjoying the musical performances.

On the other hand, The Bachelor offers no such rewards--unless you enjoy watching cat-fights, women denigrating themselves, and men acting Dumb and Dumber.

[OldFriend]

If you are referring to IDOL, you couldn't be more wrong. It is about the only thing that crosses all age groups, can be watched without embarrassment by the whole family and is good for sharing with your kids, in or out of town. Many people I know talk with their grown kids on the phone during IDOL and many of us email our kids all about the show and who we liked and why. It's great family stuff and you are missing the fun.

But that's what makes it so great, watch or dont watch.......just please don't think there's something wrong with US watching.

[lsee]

You know, the show may actually BE drivel...but Clay and Ruben (and Kimberly) are actually among the "good guys" and a refreshing change from the navel-baring sex-crazed pop "stars" force-fed to our young people today.

How refreshing would it be to have a clean-cut, Christian young man impact the music scene the way Clay will do? How cool would it be to have the relatively clean style of R&B make a comeback against the hard-core gangster rap so many of us deplore?

I've been watching the outcome of this show with the same excitement I'd feel if I'd been among the first to see Frank Sinatra sing, or any of a number of entertainers...that moment "before they were stars" must have been thrilling, all the more so when those in the audience look back and realize they were there "at the beginning" of a terrific career.

That's the appeal in it for me. To see "nice" people launch a promising musical career...and to see it happen before our eyes.