Yeah, the title is obvious. I couldn't resist.

It's no secret that I have a penchant for crap TV. I do try to limit the number of crap TV shows that I watch (or I'd be glued to my TV all week or my TiVo all weekend), but I've long argued that reading Phillip Roth and watching, say, Alias don't have to be mutually exclusive. High culture, low culture, pop culture...whatever. It's all good.

M and I have been fans of American Idol since it started. Originally, we watched it because, well, how could you not? It was culturally ubiquitous, the first season of auditions were fresh and hysterical, the judges were an unknown quantity, and the whole show was just bizarrely brilliant (in the way that many UK to US television exports are - see "Dancing with the Stars."). The next few seasons lost some of their sheen, and though we both liked Bo Bice (sort of) we didn't watch too much of last year.

This year, though, AI is one of the few US shows that we watched at home that we get in the UK, and it's the only show to be somewhat in sync with American broadcasts. It's shown in the US on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; we get it on Friday -- blissfully cut down to eliminate all the voting numbers and mindless patter after the songs -- and the results show is shown immediately afterwards. And, more importantly, it seems that the quality of the contestants has dramatically risen this year as well. There are still a few stinkers (Ace, Bucky, Kellie), but for the most part we're actually enjoying listening to these folks sing instead of just snarking on them for a few hours each week.

So let's talk about the weirdly polarizing (and just plain weird) Taylor Hicks. From what I can tell people either love or hate him: Television without Pity has decided that he's all an act, and is mercilessly cruel in their reacaps, but according to Andy Gadiel he's getting searches on JamBase (!!) and I've read a surprising number of genuine props on Phantasy Tour.

Frankly, I adore him. I don't even consider him in our discussions of the show -- as far as I'm concerned he's on a completely different plane. He has a voice that I actually want to listen to and even though he's utterly spastic when he performs, I find him completely mesmerizing. Every time he sings I turn to M and say something along the lines of "That boy's got the music in him;" I really do believe that he's one of those people who is truly passionate about actual music and could probably care less about the television or the stylist or the theme of the week (unless it's Bob Seeger week...heh) and just gets up there and sings in the same way he would if he were in a bar in Alabama or on Jamcruise. (He was on JAMCRUISE. Come ON.) And he had the balls to do "Not Fade Away" last week, and I guarantee he knows the Dead covered that song and probably has a favorite version. In fact, this may be the first time on American Idol that a contestant actually knows who the Dead ARE.

I sincerely hope he loses. Or at least doesn't end up under contract to Simon Fuller or someone who will try to market him and prevent him from playing with Robert Randolph or James Brown. And while I won't go as far as to buy a Soul Patrol shirt, I wouldn't kick him off a stage at High Sierra.

In other news, Kat McPhee needs to find her inner Joss Stone, and Paula needs to cut down on the Botox. Stat.