Bad Taste Radio - Girl Dumped Live On The Radio

[Chuck Igo]

doug opined:
>>That's what the telecasts of the city-to-city American Idol tryouts is all
about, isn't it?
I feel horrible for the poor, deluded people who have no chance of
acceptance.  Their naivete and their consequent pain are paraded for all the
nation to see.  There's something sick about that. <<

there is something sick and twisted about it, and i'll admit that like a 
looky-loo on the x-way, i slow down and take a gander.  some of them are 
indeed deluded and in need of a wake-up call - go cure cancer, invent the 
water-powered, non-polluting engine, find a way to print money on home pc 
and share the secret with the world... but by all means, really, forget the 
singing thing as a means to an end.

however - an interesting-to-see-how-this-plays-out occured last night with 
one of the contestants who gave "Unchained Melody" his best shot (?).  not 
even the short version - they let him sing almost all 3:30 of it.  then 
rallied on in piling on the young man (27).  in watching him (i was actually 
sneaking a peek in the hockey rink snack bar while my 13 year old was being 
pelted with pucks - he's a goalie, it's okay and has nothing to do with 
Amesbury), i was struck by the thought that something was just not "right" 
about the young man, but couldn't quite put my finger on it.  his somewhat 
awkward gait, a slightly-different facial make-up, 
stilted-and-overly-zealous pronounciation of each word... when i got home, i 
offered that i thought the judges were exceptionally heavy-handed on the 
contestants.  she went straight to the young man mentioned above and offered 
that she thought he was either autistic, semi-autistic, or perhaps 
Aspergur's (sp?) syndrome.  one might think that through vetting, 
pre-production, witnessing the audition and then rolling through hours of 
tape in the editing room that someone involved might have picked up on a 
similar thought and followed-up.  imo, it's one of those hinky things that 
will, on the heels of the tragic water contest, et al, bring the world of 
unabashed reality programming to screeching halt, not unlike the wardrobe 
malfunction did to the albeit briefly loosened standards applied in on-air 
broadcasts.  (that being if indeed the young man in question is perhaps in 
some way mentally handicapped).

- -chuck igo