Kyle Berg

Never did I think I would become a fan of American Idol. I often despise pop culture and am not interested in keeping up with the lives of celebrities or what’s happening in other sectors that are altogether unimportant. Sure, I had watched some of the early episodes of a few seasons to see the atrocious singing of people who thought they were stars. That was about it and I never had an interest in watching the rounds where the talented singers faced off against each other.

I started watching season seven of American Idol with Meredee from the beginning. She was a religious Idol watcher and had even taped (with a VCR) previous seasons in order to keep up with the show. So after we were married, it was my husbandly duty to spend time with my wife watching one of her favorite shows. I was skeptical, but Mer did have two things in her favor. First, we recorded the show with the DVR and were able to skip the commercials and unnecessary blabbering portions of the program. This greatly reduced the mental and time commitments required of me. Second, we were able to watch the show in high definition. Now it’s not as cool as watching the Super Bowl in HD, but I couldn’t complain. Even manly men can appreciate how good Ryan Seacrest looks in 1080p. This has nothing to do with liking his girlish figure or fake bake tan. It only means that men love technology and can appreciate a crystal clear, lifelike picture regardless of the show.

While I still wouldn’t consider myself an ardent fan, I have found Idol interesting and entertaining. I even find myself occasionally making comments about someone’s performance or the idiocy of Paula Abdul’s critiques (or lack thereof). Because I cannot sing to save my life, it is especially impressive to watch such young performers sing with astounding confidence, power, and ability. With only four contestants remaining, Meredee and I have our favorites as well as those we want to see go. We do not like either Allison or Adam and are pulling for Kris and Danny.  It’s interesting that both Kris and Danny have church music backgrounds as well.

I guess marriage will do certain things to you. Never would I have pictured myself watching American Idol, but we’re enjoying it. Plus, I always like listening to Simon’s commentary. Like Rush, he’s never wrong.