I watched a full episode of American Idol last night for the first time in my life. I've seen bits and pieces, but could never really get through it all. These are the fun episodes, where they mostly show the ridiculous people who can't sing, but think they sound like Aretha Franklin.

For the most part, the people that are really bad I don't feel sorry for. They should know how bad they are and shouldn't be surprised when they get ripped into. Their friends or family should be good enough people to tell them that they suck. My sister has been telling me how awful I am as a singer and a brother for years. I know that I should never try to be on American Idol, or on American Brother.

But then there are the other people. There are the guys, who always seem to be a little bit portly and gay, who did musical theater in high school and want to take it to the next level. There was a fella on last night who didn't have a terrible voice, but nothing to knock your socks off. They told him he wasn't very good and you could tell by the look on his face this was the first time in his life he has ever heard that from anyone. That guy, I felt bad for. I'm sure that he did a fine job in his school's production of Pirates of Penzance, but as far as being idolized by America, he just can't cut it.

Watching these shows is so uncomfortable. There is the good kind of uncomfortable, like watching 24, because it's suspenseful and Kiefer Sutherland is always yelling at someone. So it's not a comfortable show. It makes me feel uneasy, because of the tension, but it's so great and I keep going back. With American Idol, it's just a cringe-fest. There are definitely some funny parts (and some that are so scripted -- Paula Abdul is a terrible actress), but when they show the montage of people bitching about what Simon said to them, then they show people crying... that makes me not like the show. Plus, the crying people also always seem to be fat girls. No one likes to watch fat girls cry.