As IF Times

link American Idol Vote Begins – Jacob Lusk, Casey Abrams Impress : People.com.

A few seasons back, the irascible Simon Cowell, arguably the real star of American Idol decided to move on.  Before that happened, the fomat changed to 4 judges and Ellen Degeneres was  inexplicably added to the show.   That was enough for yours truly, causing me to pronounce the show over.  http://asiftimes.com/2010/02/07/talent-must-be-in-short-supply/

Well this season’s crop of  talent has not only proved me wrong, it proved a number of other things as well.  First of which is that Simon was NOT the show, although he dominated the program since inception with his bitingly blunt comments.  The show was supposed to be about singing talent, but with Simon’s presence over the years, it was as much about watching unfolding car crashes and the show had an almost sadistic appeal.

When you look at the talent pool in this year’s edition of AI, the producers and the judges have to be given credit for bringing the best crop ever to the stage.  So, that’s credit to Steve Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and the only carry over judge, Randy Jackson.   They bring credibility due to their backgrounds and generally lucid comments.  The show has moved on to be a talent contest, albeit a contrived one, from being the Simon Cowell show.  I’m not sure what the logic was in bringing in Degeneres, but thankfully, that’s over. 

The success this season also demonstrates that the basic concept reasonates with the public and therefore the show is bigger than its nominal judges.  Karaoke is pretty popular in most of the world and this can be characterized as the Super Bowl of that.   The show is refocusing on the talent, not on the judges.  It’s as if Simon were never there.   Charlie Sheen should pay attention to that.

When you observe the roster of talent that is on display, it makes you wonder where these people were last year, or the year before.  It also should give one pause to think about the pool of talent in every other area of life which will emerge from the wings every year.  From science, to business, to sports, the pool of talent is deep enough down there to give optimism to all aspects of culture and human achievement.   You just can’t be pessimistic.

Now if they could only get rid of that irritating Ryan Seacrest.

link Oscars | Page 8 | Liveblog live blogging | Reuters.com.

And the winner is….THE UNIONS!  It’s not our imagination.  Only last month in another of the litany of self congratulatory love fests, the SAG awards show was notable for the frequent mention of the unions in the acceptance speeches.  In the Oscars presentation last night, the unions were thanked again by at least two winners.  Heck, Christian Bale couldn’t even remember his wife’s name, but some had the presence of mind to thank the unions.  Who knew they were so instrumental as artistic muses?

I can’t recall ever during the history of the Academy Awards when a political figure was featured during the ceremonies.  But this oversight has clearly been rectified as a large image of the current president, Kim Jong Il-like,  smiling benignly at the audience was on big screen display during one of the presentations.  Even Bill Clinton, the much loved darling of the Hollywood crowd didn’t receive that honor during his tenure.  

From earlier times when the Oscars represented artistic achievement, the show conveyed a certain dignity and audiences were entertained by the impressive and articulate acceptance speeches by the deserving winners.  During those earlier times, Hollywood was still able to create the aura of glitz and glamour and even though it was in the spirit of make believe, the public enjoyed it.      When Bob Hope, the best awards host of all time by a long shot was alive, it was all about the industry.  All humor and comments were directed at the entertainment crowd.   He would never stoop to commenting on the events of the world outside.  He knew this was all about a fantasy world and supporting the mystique.  TV sponsors of the event were likely involved in the beauty or fashion business such as Revlon, L’Oreal or Max Factor.   That was then.

Now, it’s the Academy Awards brought to you by, The AFL-CIO! Also by the TEAMSTERS!  With a special word from Dear Leader!  If you’re of the mesmerized masses, you may not even notice this, but for those who just tune in for simple entertainment they may be surprised and offended by the not so subtle partisan messages that have taken over.  My beef is that these political entities should at least take out and pay for legitimate sponsor roles so that people can get up and go to the bathroom or get a beer.  When the messages are weaved into the programming, it’s annoying at best and smacks of state propaganda at worst. 

The owners of the Academy awards are chagrined that their ratings decline year after year.  Well that may be because no one wants to watch political propaganda masquerading as entertainment.   (Interestingly, in real life, there are entertainment shows masquerading as political shows).   We don’t need to hear about the politics of the actors.  Let’s just go back to just it being about art.  Bugs Bunny used to say it best during his opening musical intro entitled, “This Is It”:
Overture, curtains, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, you’ll hit the heights
And oh what heights we’ll hit
On with the show this is it

Tonight what heights we’ll hit
On with the show this is it

It’s about entertainment.  Even a cartoon rabbit can figure that out.