Enough is enough. I have been an American Idol watcher dating back to Kelly Clarkson. (People still ask me if I am her, by the way…for those of you that don’t know…my first name is Kelly.) We have always watched it as a family and rooted our individual favorites on. However, last night I had my fill. I can no longer watch these kids, in most cases, be ridiculed, mocked and made fun of for a laugh from America any longer. I understand that they are going on their own free will and signing releases and so on, but in my heart, I believe that some of these kids are being hurt and damaged by the judges. The point of the show is to find the “diamond in the rough” who would not make it big in the music industry otherwise…not to make someone feel that they are worthless. I love the idea and the process and watching them compete and get the chances of a lifetime after it has been narrowed down to the final however-many. BUT, and I feel quite serious here, what I witnessed last night was painful and heartbreaking. There was one kid who had such a sweet spirit about him, who was genuine and kind (from what I could see) and one of the judges told him that he looked like a jungle animal. After he walked out of the room, all 3 judges proceeded to laugh at him hysterically. That was my breaking point. I will not sit by and entertain that. Now, I am aware that me no longer supporting American Idol is no skin off their backs, but I have to be honest and true to myself. I see no problem with telling them that they do not have the right voice for the competition, but to insult them to the core with cutting remarks that have no validity to the competition itself is wrong. Period. No one will convince me otherwise. We try hard to teach our kids how to treat people with kindness, and we sit back and wonder why bullying is so out of control in the schools, and why kids are committing suicide, and so many girls have eating disorders, and why our country is in the shape it is in. Well, I believe that becomming desensitized to stuff like this is part of some of our many problems. I can guarantee you this…NOTHING about the way that boy was treated last night pleased God on any level. Tonight, I looked at my own children and thought about how I would feel if I had to watch them being maliciously made fun of…one hurtful comment after the other…while they just stood there with tears welling in their eyes and realized that God must feel the same way when it happens to His children. I can tell you one thing…I would not take it if it were Colton, Chase or Aiden…and I’m not going to take it for anyone anymore. American Idol just lost a viewer.
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