The recipe for reality TV? One likable host, one hero, at least one drama queen, a heaping cup of contrived drama and a dash of filler material. Last night, as usual, American Idol followed the recipe to a "T" and in the process toyed with the over-the-top emotions of Tatiana. Raise your hand if you thought that the melodramatic beauty queen deserved a spot on the wild card show? Just as I thought. We all know she was tossed back into the batter to earn a giant, "oh, no they didn't" from the audience.
Astute producers know that putting Tatiana in the final baker's dozen would have pushed us over the edge. Those vote for the worst folks (http://www.votefortheworst.com/) might have backed her and they couldn't risk having Tatiana tank the American Idol tour if she made it to the top 10. Any reality TV recipe will warn you to remove the drama queen from the contest before you pull the finished dish out of the oven. Tatiana was simply AI's version of New York, from "Flava of Love" (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51q9GpZPq0L._SX320_SY240_.jpg). You want to keep her around to keep some drama simmering in your pot, but you can't let her win. Every good cook knows that too much salt will spoil a recipe and salty personalities don't make good reps for your sponsors.
From the ingredients I've seen so far it is doubtful we'll have a teen idol this year. There are only two teens in the mix, Allison and Jasmine. We've seen it before with a previous Jasmine(http://jasminetrias.org/). Like Trias, Jasmine Murray is a cute girl with a mediocre voice but she doesn't have a good back story and doesn't stand out. Allison Iraheta has a fantastic instrument (help, I'm writing like Paula talks) but she can't pull off the innocent, bubbly teen act that America loves. Country fans won't get an Idol this time around. Don't put your money on Michael Sarver to go all the way. And Look for Anoop Dawg to get a make-over. Idol loves to turn nerdy college guys into fashionistas. Remember when Clay Aiken discovered the flat iron (http://www.people.com/people/clay_aiken) and became a shoe whore?
There is an art to whipping up the perfect reality dish. You have to know when it's time to turn up the heat and it is imperative to make sure you let it bake long enough so it'll be satisfying and not undercooked. So we'll have to trust the likable host, Ryan Seacrest, to manipulate the theatrics by always giving us the results RIGHT AFTER THE BREAK!
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