November 19: Faking It

I have a hard time believing some of the people on American Idol honestly believe they are good enough to be superstars. When audiences watch the first few weeks of the reality program, the following day is filled with conversations about the terrible contestants and how tragic it is that no one told them how bad they really were before they made fools of themselves on national television. I don't share that opinion. There is no way those "singers" are so delusional to think the noises escaping from their lips is that of a beautiful song.

Take it from the source. I am a horrific singer. I always have been. If someone held a gun to my head, pulled back the hammer and told me to carry a tune, someone would have quite the mess to clean up. I'm honestly that bad. The funny thing is that I love to sing the most random songs at any given moment of the day. I do it so often that people tell me I should be on American Idol. Now, I know for a fact that I'm no Ruben Studdard. The only reason I would ever go on the show is to get my fifteen minutes of fame.

If I made it past the thousands and thousands of waiting people hoping to get a chance to sing in front of the judges, I would be one of those singers that they would let go on and on just so they could get a shot of each judge's appalled expressions. Finally, one of them would cut me off and tell me how bad I sounded and the audience at home would feel bad that the judges were so cruel to me. I would know all of this going in, but I would be a one-day star and people would remember how terrible I was. It's no different for any of the people that actually make it on camera. They know they're bad. They just want to be on TV.

There are some people, however, that are completely clueless as how they are perceived. There's the girl that simply will not shut up. She talks and talks and fails to see that her listeners aren't as into the story as they were when she started. There's the office manager that is oblivious that no one likes him. There's the girl that sleeps around but is convinced she's keeping a low profile amongst her friends. The list could go on and on. Everyone probably has something that they are unaware of about themselves. He thinks he's funny but no one's laughing. She is a complete idiot, but is too stupid to see it.

I believe there are certain things in life that a person simply cannot know about him or herself. There are other things, like singing really badly, that can be noticed about one's self. Don't get me wrong here. There's a fine line when it comes to believing in yourself and being plain dumb. I was in a lot of plays where people thought they were decent actors, but they weren't. The really bad American Idol singers have to know how bad they are. William Hung didn't make money because of how bad he was at singing. He made a ton of money on his ability to poke fun at himself and trick people into thinking that he was unaware they were laughing at him instead of with him.