Not a Fan.
I’m not a fan of the American Idol Act nor any of its predecessors & spin-offs. Never have been. But tonight, dear folks, this video redeemed the whole lot for me – hook, line, and sinker. Tears welled up and movement in the emotional region warmed every inch …
5 Responses to “Not a Fan.”
AMY KING View All →
Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) Award. Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She co-edited with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She also co-edits the anthology series, Bettering American Poetry, and is a professor of creative writing at SUNY Nassau Community College.
AMY KING 
July 6th, 2007 at 3:16 am eTwo nights in a row, pulling the heart strings. I saw this a few weeks ago and I was lifted up. Even the heavy-handed editing and camera movement don’t mask the beauty of that brief moment on stage. When I see someone sing like that, such an unlikely talent, it helps remind me that love and magic still exist. (I know I’m laying it on, but that’s what it does to me…) How do you not just love that fellow? Thanks for sharing. (And you’re right about shite like this on TV. It’s why I gave up on it why I moved to NYC three years ago.)
July 6th, 2007 at 12:24 pm eTim,
You’re absolutely right about the production manipulations – they’re tacky and transparent. But to me, the grossest parts come when the ‘judges’ try to own Paul in their way. The woman calls him a lump of coal and then a frog (with potential to transform), and later, Simon claims the guy doesn’t know he has talent. My understanding of the show is that it’s primarily a chance for folks who believe they have talent but haven’t had an opportunity to showcase to do so there. Paul knows he has talent; he says he was born to sing.
The best part of this clip is knowing that folks, myself included, size Paul up in a second based on his appearance, his slight insecure posture, bashful look, etc — and then he blows everyone away by doing this absolutely beautiful thing. No one can possibly feel remotely superior after, and indeed, we all must feel a little more hopeful about humans in general (yes, my brand of sentimental) …
Cheers!
July 6th, 2007 at 3:42 pm eCheesy production manipulation and all aside, I never in a hundred years would have thought that one of these shows would bring tears to my eyes. At least not in a good way.
July 6th, 2007 at 8:26 pm eHoly Crap!
Riveted, and I’m not an opera fan, even.
Wish they’d get Simon out of there.
Like you need his word to be sure it’s good.
That’s the real contrivance.
December 14th, 2007 at 5:17 pm e[…] Photo courtesy of Amy King […]