Why I hate American Idol

I have tried to like it. It is America's feel good show. Giving people a chance to realize their talent and let the world hear their voice. It's a nice concept, and I did enjoy some of the final 12 last year.

After watching some of the beginning this season though, I have a problem with it. The majority of these people have no business even humming in the shower. And yet, they walk in that room, honestly believing that they deserve to be heard. That they are musicians.

Fertile Mertile talked about having complements of her photographs being backhanded with, "What kind of camera do you use?"

Gee, if I could just get my hands on the camera you used, I could take pictures just as purdy as you do.

Gee, if I could just get on American Idol, I could sing songs and get famous and make some of those vinyl records to put on the spinning thing.

My beef is that no matter how talented an artist is, there is work to be done. There is the honing of the craft. Techniques must be learned. A skilled artist knows what will work and what won't. Fertile Mertile didn't just buy a camera and become a photographer. I didn't just know how to play the piano just because I had one. Even Taylor Hicks paid his dues playing clubs, or so I hear.

Shows like American Idol make me feel as though everyone is just entitled to be an artist. Maybe everyone is, but not just because they want to be. It would be nice to acknowledge the years of practice, work, and study that make the great artists just that. The talent plus the work is what has made them great.