Making Steven Tyler Swear, and Other Signs of Success

I watched American Idol with my son, sister and niece this week just after going to my niece's wonderful sixth grade play. My niece had a solo and I'm pretty sure if Randy, Jennifer or Steven were to give her some feedback they'd say she nailed it. It's funny watching a production like that and seeing which kids are born actors/performers and which ones seem to be in agony under the spotlight. I'm pretty sure I was one of the squirmers as a kid. And yet, I was in musicals all through junior high and high school. What I loved and why I was in those productions was being a part of it all. The practices. The set-making. The costume-finding. The make-up. The pretending to be someone else, somewhere else. But mostly, it was being a part of something. Part of a community. It was fun to see my niece experience that same sort of wonder.

Anyway.

We were all watching Idol and I kept shushing my poor niece and she was like, Why do you have to hear what everyone says? And I was like, BECAUSE I NEED INSPIRATION. Which sounded pretty lame, even to me. Maybe I am taking this Steven Tyler is My Muse thing a little too far.

I have to admit, it was another old salt-water taffy night. People performed and the judges gave feedback. But again, it didn't really seem like anyone's hearts were in it. It's like they weren't saying what they really wanted to say. Or... I don't know. Maybe it was my heart that wasn't in it, I'm not sure. But honestly, the judges seemed kind of bored. Even when James came out in his crazy outfit with the creepy marching band, the judges acted excited but... hmmm. Not genuinely?

Am I the only one straining to feel the sincerity? I wonder what that's all about. I don't know if it's me who has become jaded, or them. I feel like Jennifer and Steven have realized that the very nature of this show is actually cruel. And since these two people seem genuinely kind, they don't want to be a part of it anymore. I do find it increasingly hard to watch with all the "Dim the lights! Here we go! Lets see who's going home!" stuff. Should we really be getting excited to see whose heart will be broken next? It feels so wrong.

But I keep watching. So who am I to judge?

After Casey performed, the judges did seem truly pleased. Unfortunately, Steven Tyler's entire feedback got bleeped out so I couldn't write it down. I bet it was good. I bet it would've made a great title for this entry. Oh well.

After the ads, they showed Casey backstage and he said something along the lines of "I made Steven Tyler swear" and basically implied that you can't really get any better than that.

And I thought, well, yeah. He's right. I would love it if my work made Steven Tyler swear, too. Wouldn't it be great to write something that made someone feel so strongly that they didn't care about getting censored on national tv? What came out was BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP to us. But Casey heard what Steven said. And Casey is the only one who needed to.

It was the first moment all night that felt real. I like to think that Steven Tyler said to himself, You know what? We keep telling these contestants to be themselves. So maybe I should take the lead on that. And he let lose and said what he really, truly thought.

I have to say, it gave me hope that all was not lost. Not yet. And while I really wonder what he said, I guess I'm kind of glad I don't know.