MisenPOPic Update 1/12/10

I'm writing this while watching the season premiere of American Idol. Everybody who does know me understands that I'm a critic who has very small filters when analyzing what is entertaining and unique as opposed to what is stale and not interesting. I think that's why I can't stop watching this show so I can judge who has actual talent and who doesn't. Even those without talent but have some type of charisma are okay, but the ones who just suck who are there for no valid reason is really annoying. I do commend the producers for sticking to the same basic formula, but after nine seasons, even I must admit that seeing all that talentless losers who just use the show to get their ten minutes of fame is starting to grate on my nerves. I'm not quite sure how much longer American Idol can keep going with Simon leaving after this season, though. The show might be able to get by this year without Paula Abdul, but Cowell is the face of the franchise. Unless he is bullshitting everybody in order to get a more flexible schedule and a production deal on Fox for his X Factor show, American Idol is done after this season. Ellen DeGeneres should be a better judge than Paula, but not even her star power will be able to keep the show going. Any Simon Cowell impersonator they sign up for next season also just won't work. Off the top of my head, I can think of one guy who would do it in a heartbeat and might be more arrogant than Simon Cowell. In fact, we saw him on the finale of American Idol Season 8. That guy would be Gene Simmons from KISS who knows as much about music and what is marketable as Simon. And if this ever did happen, even I won't watch it! I knew the franchise was declining, but it still warrants huge ratings for FOX. But I think we saw the biggest talent ever to grace the Idol stage on last season, Adam Lambert. And his album just isn't selling even with some catchy singles on the radio. And we all know how the actual winner Kris Allen's career was going to slide into obscurity, but this quickly? Let's all enjoy American Idol Season 9 because this is the swan song for the biggest TV show of the past nine years.

By the way, that rock and roll cat with the two broken hands is the son of a former co-worker of mine. Yeah, I actually know that kid. His name is Tyler Grady, the son of a sports card grader. His dad was a real good guy but also had one of the most unique sense of humors of anybody I have ever known. I don't remember if he ever brought Tyler to the office, but I remember hearing about him and seeing his photo displayed proudly on his daddy's desk. I only wish Derek (Tyler's dad) was on the show to congratulate his son so the whole world could see his beer gut! Tyler is heading to Hollywood and probably has a good shot to make the cut so he hopefully doesn't follow his dad into the sports card business. I worked with his dad from 1999 to 2002, when Tyler was probably eight years old. Oh boy, how I feel like an old man!

On a random note, I might just have to call Blockbuster to let them know how much I despise their business. Not just their on-line service which is a piece of horse poop, but their actual stores. I wanted to rent "Big Fan" today but was told no stores in New Jersey were going to carry the video. Just like other popular but high demand TV Shows on DVD like Friday Night Lights, Sons Of Anarchy, and Breaking Bad. Do the people who work for Blockbuster corporate office even follow the industry trends, or do they just crunch numbers? Is our whole world of entertainment being run by morons with no clue about what is good but only from what they hear from focus groups and meaningless statistics? Why am I sitting on the sidelines why all this damage is being done? You know how much I'm opposed to the oversaturation of products to the market. But maybe I'm really just opposed to the oversaturation of bad product due to lack of research? Let's give the power back to the movie directors, back to the disc jockeys, back to the credible writers! Sorry, there I go on another tangent! But in all seriousness, something has to be done about the arts and business before all creativity is lost and everything is run by skewed statistics.

Back to American Idol, maybe I'll see somebody else that I kind of know! Although I might just stop watching these audition shows and wait until we get to the cream of the crop.

Mikey