Life Lesson from American Idol and Lady Gaga

Last night, I had a strange feeling: I wanted to watch TV. I don’t think that watching TV is bad; it’s a strange feeling for me because I normally don’t have that desire. I’m more of a movie, book, and computer guy than a TV guy. (If you read “nerd,” you’re probably right, but I don’t like you.)

I caught the last five minutes of an episode of The Big Bang Theory (speaking of nerds), which I think of that show as the current Everybody Loves Raymond: always entertaining and good for a laugh. But after TBBT ended, I looked for another TV show to picque my interest.

Nothing picqued it.

The only thing that made me toy with pressing the change channel button on the remote control was Law and Order, but even that was the original series, AKA not the one with Ice-T and Benson. After a comic amount of stalled deliberation, I decided to leave the TV on its current channel, as an episode of American Idol began.

I’m not a fan of Idol. In typical Internet personality, anything that doesn’t appear edifying to me but embraced by a large population seems below me.

Yet, unlike an Internet personality, I’m always willing to give what I don’t like a shot. This absurd characteristic of mine had me read the first Twilight book because I was so keen on making fun of it, yet I felt like a hypocrite because I’d never read it firsthand. (After I read it, though, I felt more secure in insulting and even obligated to insult it.)

The first act on American Idol was a blonde girl singing that Adele song “Rolling in the Deep.” I concede to living under a rock, because that was the first time I heard that song other than in a ten-second advertisement. Anyway, I thought it was pretty awesome and the girl who sang it really rocked a seemingly tough song to perform.

So, I enjoyed that. Did watching that sell me to the show, or even cause me to commit to watching the rest of that episode? No. But, I let the show continue playing.

The next performance was announced to be a song by Lady Gaga. I groaned a little bit. See, Lady Gaga to me is the epitome of pop culture: flashy, odd, catchy, a little obnoxious, and downright weird. I’ve heard her songs and seen her clothes; I think that gives me ground to not like her.

When Ryan Seacrest, amid his flashy persona, said that a guy would be the one performing the Lady Gaga song, my already low hopes sank to a deeper level. Not only was the person singing the song by a female singer I don’t like a dude, but he looked …odd.

A mix of lethargy and laziness kept me from changing the channel. As this odd guy finished the song by the singer I don’t like, I had a strange realization.

I actually liked the performance.

Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t turn me into an American Idol fan, make me call or text to vote for that guy, finish watching the entire episode, or even remember his name. But that performance made me realize something.

Too often, I pre-judge what my opinion of something will be. I think it’s important to remain true to who I am, but I don’t think that necessarily delineates what kind of entertainment I like. Sometimes, I need to just experience something anew instead of letting my past judgments affect my present opinions.

Maybe I am being too touchy-feely. However, I will always support looking at a situation from an outside perspective, AKA thinking outside of the box. So thanks American Idol, Lady Gaga, and blond dude with a red stripe in your hair: you’ve shown me that sometimes letting go of my prejudices may introduce me to something I can actually enjoy.

So will I tune into the next episode? Probably not. But I might sometime again. If The Big Bang Theory isn’t on.

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Oh yeah, check out that video here. Is it a great performance? Not saying that; just saying I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.