America's Got Talent?

I'm sitting here watching yet another popular "vote for your favorite" variety show and wondering what the Ted Mac Amateur Variety Hour or The Ed Sullivan Show might have been like if they had the audience voting on the talent. Back in those days we watched and saw careers launched just because they showed up and gave an incredible performance. Making it on the show was an accomplishment that recognized a performer's talent and passion. Now, there is a week after week disappointment to endure as someone who didn't get enough votes is sent home. Seriously, Dave Clark Five, The Beatles, Herman's Hermits, The Rolling Stones, all performed on Ed Sullivan's show. So let's take a vote... and I understand that some of you won't even know all four of these groups, but they all had a significant part to play in the pop culture of the 60s and 70s. So, which group would win today's vote? Should it really matter?

So we come to a really significant question... Why vote? As I see it, turning a talent show from an exhibition into a competition benefits only one party. The networks. It ups the ratings by involving the audience in a Roman Coliseumesque rating system of "thumbs up or down" to label the talent as winners or dead losers. As the ratings go up, ad revenue goes through the roof and the networks make lots of money on a show that is inexpensive to produce.

Now I know some will argue that Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson have successful careers even though they didn't get the votes. But really, they will forever be known as the ones who made it big, but got voted off American Idol. And they have to live with it for the sake of getting millions of people to choose who lives or dies on the Idol stage.

This year, one of my favorite shows "So You Think You Can Dance" had an absolutely stellar line up of dancers. I like the show because everyone on the show, the judges, choreographers, the dancers, and the audience passionately love dance. There are some evenings when the art is so overwhelming we are all left breathless and the judges are in tears. And then we have to vote and everything becomes cheapened by the commercialism. The girl who won this year, won because she was popular. Was she the best dancer? Does it really matter?

I have a solution. The next time a show comes on TV that wants us to rate the talent, let's show our support by watching and enjoying what happens, but when the host announces, "The voting lines are now open..." resist the urge to pick up the phone. What a night that would be if no one voted; if America decided to enjoy a talent show and sacrificed no one to the lions.

-- Wink

I knew this day would come. I thought about it once in a while. As a boy a big part of my life was set to the soundtrack of Beatles/Zombies music and the voice of Walter Cronkite. When 8th grade history was a bit too boring, I imagined his voice reading the text like a news story. There was something about that voice. It made sense of the insensibilities of the Vietnam war and assured us if we wanted to, we could figure this thing out.

For over 20 years he ended each newscast with, "And that's the way it is." And I believed him. Every news anchor after him has tried something similar, but I really didn't believe them, not like I did him. In 2006 Cronkite wrote in a blog about his signature sign-off, "To me, that encapsulates the newsman's highest ideal: to report the facts as he sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue."

Hmmm. Reminds me of Polonius' last piece of advice to his son Laertes, who was in a hurry to get on the next boat to Paris, where he'd be safe from his father's long-winded speeches:

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

I didn't know WC, but I suspect he was one who became personally comfortable with "the way it was," before he said, "that's the way it is." Rest well Uncle Walter. We who trusted you will miss you.

Ok... so I'm not much of a blogger. But, after over a half decade of life I'm thinkin' I might have learned a few things that someone else may benefit from. So, some ground rules...

1. These blogs are about my thoughts and experiences. They are not for someone who is looking for spelling errors, grammatical inconsistencies, or well word-smithed sentence structure. If that's what you're about, I will disappoint you. Sorry about that.

2. These blogs are written heart-to-heart. If you can read and listen with your heart, you will "get" them. If you're a literalist that likes to parse words for deeper meanings, I will disappoint you. Again, sorry about that.

3. I am and always will be fundamentally an artist. I paint outside the lines and I'm often seen as someone with little regard or respect for the status quo. If you understand art, you will understand I'm not disrespectful or rebelious. I'm for revealing truth that will change someone's life for the better. As with all art, my purpose is to get your attention, make you think, and hopefully "pull the string" on a light bulb you didn't even know was there. Once the light is on, I hope you will explore the new stuff you're seeing.

4. You won't offend me by getting peaved, and I won't get "a big head" if you like it. I think being aloof to keep someone from knowing what you think is just silly and imature. It's the self-serving stuff that keeps us fear-filled and insecure. We should be able to communicate through our hearts and not our logic. If you don't know what that means, email and I'll try to help, but you probably will get frustrated. Everyone can do this, most choose not to.

So I'll be back from time to time and do a blog post. If you read it, thanks for taking the time.