American idol losers

[sipowicz]

I watched the show tonight with my little girl (she keeps saying "I'm going to Hollywood" and I have to remind her she is already there)...anyway, it struck me how many really bad singers would bitch and cry after they were turned down...what struck me even more was their parent's reaction to their failure...could a parent be that tone deaf to their own child or does it go deeper? Could it be that in this age of entitlement where everybody gets a medal, that kids are not prepared for disappointment? that their parents encourage them in everthing they do, no matter how ill equipped they may be? I believe if that show were done 50 years ago, most losers would walk off with a shrug of their shoulders and their dignity still intact...and when they got outside the room, their parents would smack them in the back of the head and tell them, "I told you, you couldn't sing you moron...and you're paying for the gas down here."

 

[Nicksterdemus]

American idol losers

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"I watched the show tonight..."

 

[Spotteddog]

50 years ago if I'd even brought a concept of the subject up, the old man would have been playing whack a mole with me for the better part of a half hour! You didn't embarrass your parents voluntarily back then. And least likely of all with their help, especially in an area you knew yourself to be talentless in? At least not if you wanted to survive!
But there was still the concept of shame then?
The pillory in the town square never killed anyone 3 centuries ago. As much as one locked in it back then, probably thought it was possible to die of embarrassment?

 

[oldogy]

There is no sense of reality to some of these folks. If you can listen to or watch some of the current paid entertainers you have to wonder how they get the publicity they do, how anyone pays money to be entertained by them.
oldogy

 

[BarbC]

I miss the good old days.

 

[wildfiresrozes]

"Do you want me to sing another one? I can try a different song..."

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I miss the good old days.

Who can forget "Gene Gene The Dancin' Machine"

 

[roarindan]

do the contestants get paid "union scale" for an apperance??or do they give that up for room and board and being on tv??.

 

[Firehouse]

I like Chuck Barris. He was a hit man for the CIA. It's true because I read it on the internet. As for the Gong Show, they should do that on Idol. Except hit the contestant with the gong stick if they keep singing and pitch a fit when they get told no.

 

[Len]

Sip, my wife and I talked about this after the last episode.

What you're seeing is the very public and humiliating moment when these kids and their parents actually witness the "death of self-esteem." [Actually, the death of a ghost they thought was self-esteem.]

These poor little sots are riding the wave of those pampered kids who have been told all their lives that they can "do anything...you just have to want it enough."

Work for it? Have a talent for it? Be smart enough, disciplined enough, athletic enough, train enough?....Nope! You just have to really, really, really want it.

'Course...there's always those "special" people who want their fifteen minutes, no matter how they get them...

If really wanting things was all I needed to succeed, I'd be living in a glass dome on the moon, commuting to Earth to be an NFL QB, in the off-season, playing lead guitar for a successful band, and married to Raquel Welch...who by the way wanted youth so much she will never look any older than she did in the "cave woman bikini" poster...

 

[RWM]

...what struck me even more was their parent's reaction to their failure...could a parent be that tone deaf to their own child or does it go deeper?..."

Parents are "tone deaf" in many aspects of their children's lives....youth sports (Little League, YMCA basketball, 6th grade track, etc.), misbehaving in school, various legal problems (shoplifting, assault, etc.), drug and alcohol use. The list goes on. Unfortunately, I know of no child who has benefitted from "tone deaf" parents.

 

[wbraswell]

Hmmmm.....American Idol losers. Sounds redundant to me.

 

[klondike]

Some friends have discussed the phenomenon of what they call "hot house kids". These kids have been so protected, for the sake of the precious
self esteem, that they are very weak emotionally. Far better for them to let them take some falls while growing up and develop a hide.

 

[PALADIN85020]

My wife forced me to watch the last two shows. Most of the contestants could only find talent if they looked it up in the dictionary. "I'm not leaving." "I can sing something else." etc., etc. What ever happened to training, working hard, practicing, being on pitch, getting a haircut, wearing nice clothes, and personal dignity? My Gawd. I may never watch another American Idol - at best, only the last couple of shows in the season.

 

[cowboy117]

I've never seen it.Years ago[long before American Idol] people could sing and write great songs.And,yes,i liked Chuck Barris and Gene,Gene,the Dancing Machine!

 

[semperfi71]

I wanted to compete on "American Idol" but I can only sing in the shower.

 

[truckemup97]

My daughter watches the show, so I see it occasionally. She doesn't sing well (no sense of pitch), but neither my wife or I have ever said anything to her about it. However, if she had asked to go to AI auditions, I would have had a very gentle conversation with her. It's not going to kill her to know that she can't sing, but it may do some damage if Simon laughs at her after everyone she knows lied to her and said she sings beautifully.

 

[HERMAN.40]

+1 on the Gong show. That show was classic. At least the judges could stop the torture.

 

[taw43]

gong show

was there anyone from the gong show that got to go on to bigger and better things?

 

[bubbiesdad]

Who can forget "Gene Gene The Dancin' Machine"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACpNVD5GMUw&feature=related



YouTube - Gene Gene The Dancing Machine

Chuck's footwork is pretty good too.