DesiDabba - Boss, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye

American Idol just handed me the best Valentine’s Day gift that I have got in a while – they nixed 18 year old Josiah Leming from the Top 24. I was so sure this kid was going to make it when he turned on the tap at the end of the Hollywood Round and got three (three!) “yes”s. Thank you, show. Now don’t ruin it by re-introducing the wild card option and bringing him back.

Instead, the top 24 seem pretty normal. I’m shocked. Where are the drama queens and the sympathy inclusions? The annoying people Randy and Paula usually vote in just to piss Simon off? Eh, those bits probably got left on the cutting room floor. Coz, you know, this is their most talented season yet. Never heard that before, have you?

Anyway, so why is this such a great gift? Do I not have people in my life who know how to gift well or is it that I have no life? Umm… Well, in case you haven’t noticed, the writer’s strike just got over, which means the most of the shows are scheduled to come back on air in April/May. I’ve been making do with reruns and old movies but that can’t last forever. Pretty soon I’ll be forced to rent Bee Movie or Welcome. Why would you wish that on me? So what am I supposed to watch till April? The Flavor of Love? I don’t think so. So American Idol it is.

But I have the seven year itch and having sat through Clay Aiken (who could at least sing) and Sanjaya Malakar (who tricked me into thinking he could for one brief second), I feel I’ve paid my dues and I really can’t bear any more weird little kids who coast by week after week on sympathy. With Josiah gone, I can now (hopefully) watch TV without yelling at it.

Yes, my heart has turned to stone and I know it. When I first saw Josiah living out of his car, my first thought was – where are his parents and why have not heard anything about his family? And my second thought was – oh, poor thing.

Then I saw him in Hollywood, freaking out because he had to do this horrible, awful thing called “learn a new song” and sing it with an unfamiliar band, the same as everybody else (not just this year, mind you, but every single other year as well) on the show. And I thought, hmmm – I wouldn’t enjoy hanging out with that kid. Too high strung. And then he began with the “I come from nothing” speech, working himself up into a maelstrom of misery, and I was… annoyed. I gave you my sympathy already, now what would you like me to give you? But I didn’t feel the hate until he got on stage, asked the band to leave (which I didn’t have a problem with – if I felt that uncomfortable singing with the band then I hope I’d have the presence of mind to ask them to leave) and then announced he was going to sing Stand By Me “the way he heard it in his head”.

Whoopee.

My favorites going in: Carly Smithson (even with her weird facial contortions) and Michael Johns (who, incidentally, has the distinction of being the first contestant on the show who really sang Bohemian Rhapsody). Now watch them make me hate them.