May 24, 2021

"The race was pretty close this year, as runner-up Willie Spence and third-place finisher Grace Kinstler were also deemed frontrunners at various times."

"But during the penultimate episode, [Chayce] Beckham made a strategic move that all but ensured his victory: He doubled down on country, returning to the genre he started out with on the show, and sang an original song that wound up topping the iTunes country chart... When the final four... had to perform a song that would be released as a single, Beckham was the only contestant who wrote the song himself. The lyrics on the track, titled '23,' were very personal. ('Now I’m 23 and therе ain’t nobody who can drink like me/Soon I’ll be 24, and thе Lord knows that I can’t drink no more.') Beckham spoke throughout the season about getting sober after hitting 'rock bottom' last year and crashing his car while driving drunk, which led to a DUI charge shortly before his 'Idol' audition. '23' clearly struck a chord, as it rocketed up iTunes to the No. 1 spot on the country chart and in the Top 10 on the all-genre chart...."

From "This season of ‘American Idol’ was a close competition — until one very strategic move by the winner" (WaPo).

I didn't watch "American Idol" this year, just never felt inclined to check in and see what was happening until I did a search a moment ago and saw the whole competition was already over. Why didn't I watch? Why did I watch when I watched? 

I probably stopped suddenly and completely because I subscribed to Netflix and that, instead of my DVR, became my starting place whenever I was in the mood to watch television. 

And that coincided — for some reason — with my being less often in the mood to watch television. Maybe because there's less of a feeling that things are happening on television. What's on television now feels more like what's in books. It's all just sitting there, waiting for you to select it. It doesn't flow by without you. So "American Idol" flowed by without me. 

Here's that song, another country song about drinking too much:

1 comment:

Ann Althouse said...

Madison Man writes:

You wrote: " It doesn't flow by without you. So "American Idol" flowed by without me. "
Sounds like a Country Song if you replace "American Idol" with drinking.

I think that song is a catchy country song, and he sure has a good voice. But like you, I've not watched AI this year at all, except for an occasional YouTube clip. Maybe this year's winner can duet with Scotty McCreery (he won 10 years ago!) sometime on Kelly Clarkson's TV show.

Cheers,
MadisonMan