Pop Culture Saturday: Our Infatuation with American Idol

Pop Culture Saturday is intended to be a more light-hearted look at American culture. There's much more going on in America than the darkness of Liberalism.

The fifth season of American Idol has recently ended with the crowning of Taylor Hicks from Birmingham, Alabama. I must admit I did not keep up with the competition until this season. I know Carrie Underwood has made it big, but the top season five contestants might eclipse her starpower. Season five has been the best that Idol has to offer.

The Performance shows (Tuesday nights) garnered an average of 30 million viewers each week, and Idol stayed at the top of the Nielsen Ratings for the entire season. The backstage drama has been entertaining - like Paula Abdul's drunken stupor. Of course, we can't forget Kellie Pickler's snotrag or Katherine McPhee's wardrobe malfunction. With all this entertainment, my complaint is more about the way Fox Network manipulates the voting.

Many viewers do not realize the effect that auto-dialers have on the weekly results. Fox has "reserved the right" to toss blocks of votes if they determine the votes were submitted through these auto-dialers. One problem: There's no way to tell how votes are submitted. Fox tossed votes that were cast for Chris Daughtry during the week he was eliminated - and only because it added to the drama of the final showdown between Katherine and Taylor.

Manipulation or not, Idol is a very entertaining program to watch. Will I watch the competition next season? Not sure. There is also more to life than American Idol.