Paula Abdul, Lana Turner, and Gustave Flaubert*

January 15, 2008

Is it totally silly and shameful for me to be excited about the new season of “American Idol”?

(tonight is the 2 hour season premier; and you know they held one audition in San Diego which apparently was pretty spectacular–but we’ll see). I’m making WeightWatchers Chicken Enchiladas for dinner, and in a couple of hour we’ll be drinking a Margarita (Trader Joe’s makes a great Margarita Mix, by the way–very fresh) and watching 100s of hopefuls sing their little hearts out.
For some reason I get kind of caught up in the show– not obsessive or anything, but as someone who used to ‘tread the boards’ themselves (as they say), and did a little singing in my time, I somehow really get into the whole making someone a star idea, the whole makeover, the ‘creating’ of a celebrity; I find it fascinating. There’s even a book out about the ‘Star-Making’ system of the old movie studios– Jeanine Basinger’s The Star Machine– out last year (to mixed reviews).

Lana Turner, of course, is the prime example of this– ‘discovered’ (not really true) at Schwab’s Drugstore having a soda, then plucked and prepped for stardom.

Who will be the next “American Idol”? Will it be someone from San Diego?And what of Paula Abdul? Will she do zany crazy things this season? Will the tabloids and gossip columns be buzzing about her again?

I can’t wait to find out.

Next blog:Update on Madame Bovary

*I just HAD to write a post that included both American Idol and Flaubert.