I have never really watched this "reality" show, except for a few moments now and then while channel-surfing, but I decided to sit through the beginning four hours this week, and I can see some strong correlations with writing and submitting to editors.

It seemed to me that the main purpose of showing the auditions for two hours a night, several nights (Philadelphia the first night, Dallas the second night, I understand it will be San Diego the third night, and who knows how many more nights and cities they will show), is to show Simon, Paula, and Randy interacting with the applicants.

So the judges (editors) are the "stars," more or less, of the first part/phase of AMERICAN IDOL, right?

For those of you who have seen the four hours I'm talking about, consider the woman (who was not badly treated by any of the judges) who used up her time before the camera after her audition to express herself vulgarly at Simon.

Care to guess how many editors receive mail like that after they've sent a story back with a standard rejection letter?

And the STAR WARS fan who sobbed into her cell phone that AMERICAN IDOL needs something different, and the judges aren't letting that happen.

Again, care to guess how many such letters editors get, or how many writers complain to their friends in such ways after they've been rejected?

I saw Paula and Randy covering their faces as they laughed at one applicant's singing (so Simon isn't the only one who can be unkind). I saw all three of them (including Simon), at one time or another, offer constructive feedback, even to those they rejected. And I saw some people thank them (and, I hope, learn from the feedback) and others leave in tears.

I also saw enough people who had been told by their friends and relatives that they could sing, who really couldn't--either they couldn't carry a tune, or they had no rhythm, or they were trying to sing something that wasn't right for them, and so on--who got up there and tried to sing anyway.

And it all sounded so familiar to me from my experiences working with writers and those who aspire to write.

Did anyone notice how the judges told a couple of people that while they could sing, their singing weren't right for AMERICAN IDOL? That sounds so familiar too.

One other thing in the audition process that I found similar to the experience editors have with slush piles is that, after sitting through singer after singer who couldn't sing, when the judges heard someone who could at least carry a tune, they were actually happy about it and willing to encourage the singer.

Writers tend to think about submitting stories as a kind of luck-of-the-draw experience, but when editors look at the piles of manuscripts they have to get through, they almost pray that MAYBE there'll be JUST ONE in all of those piles that they can use.

If you haven't watched AMERICAN IDOL before, I would like to recommend that you at least tune in to the San Diego segment next week, just to get an idea of how reading a slush pile might be for an editor.

The similarities just boggle my mind, and I expect that as the show progresses, and the contestants try to win the votes of the American public, the similarities will continue.

This comparison would have never occurred to me, Kathleen. Thanks for making it. It makes a lot of sense.



This boggles my mind.

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A Motley Vision: Mormon Arts and Culture