Bad Taste Radio - Girl Dumped Live On The Radio

[Doug Drown]

I'm not a fan of reality TV, and I've watched American Idol a grand total of
maybe four times.  That having been said, I saw the young man in question
last evening while I was taking down the Christmas decorations in my living
room (a tad late, dontcha think?).  Seeing him was what led to my earlier
comment.  The fellow claimed to be a computer engineer, if I recall, so I
think Asperger's Syndrome may indeed be a correct diagnosis.  I know people
who have Asperger's.  It's a high-functioning form of autism, and those who
have it are usually highly intelligent.

The poor guy's performance would make anybody wince.  Definitely not a
singer.  But his oddness was more than apparent, and what made me wince even
worse was Simon's offhanded remark as he was leaving: "What a weird guy!"
(or something to that effect).  I was appalled.  I've read that brutal
comments are common on this program, but that was way outside the pale.  I'm
with Chuck: If this young man is found to be mentally handicapped, the FCC
ought to step in and say "Enough."

The new issue of Newsweek contains an article on young America's growing
obsession with fame.  Nobody thinks about the consequences that come with
it.  I have a cousin-once-removed who is one of the stars of a major network
sitcom.  I won't give his name.  Fame has come to him only lately after
years in acting.  He told the family recently how, at first, it was nice to
be recognized on the street.  Now he's finding it somewhat burdensome: his
privacy is slowly being eroded away.  If young people heard more stars
saying that, maybe they'd think twice.

-Doug





---- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chuck Igo" <chuckigo@maine.rr.com>
To: "Doug Drown" <revdoug1@verizon.net>; "Brian Vita"
<brian_vita@cssinc.com>; "boston Radio Interest Board"
<boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: Bad Taste Radio - Girl Dumped Live On The Radio


> 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
>
>