Who cares about Paula Abdul?

While doing some research for my final paper, I have been reading through various newspapers and online magazines to find some information about Putin. You can see by the links on the left what kind of newspapers I read, and for the most part, they are relatively serious. Not that I don't like to check up on sports and how Brad and Angelina are doing (and they are doing great--spending a lot of time in Malibu, but wouldn't you?), but for actual "news" I like to go to "news" websites. The past few days, however, I cannot read anything on the internet without being confronted with a major American scandal--the likes of which have not been seen since Teapot Dome in the Harding Administration.

Paula Abdul had an affair with a contestant on American Idol.

Truth be told, I used to be interested in American Idol. It seemed like an interesting concept, and by and large is a meritocracy. I also like watching talentless hacks be told that they are talentless hacks in a pleasing British accent. Yes, I watched American Idol, for about two weeks. After that, my taste for schadenfreude and pathos fully satiated, I went about doing normal things. I haven't really watched it since, but since I read about this story, I have to ask why people even care if Paula Abdul, a 42 year old has-been, had a relationship with some alleged "singer" two years ago? Aside from being deeply intrusive, it's wholly irrelevant. While I first imagined American Idol to be a merit based system, it is also a hugely popular television show that needs ratings. To that end, factors other than talent are probably frequently considered. I can't even conceive the number of levels on which I don't care about this story.

Perhaps the even more interesting question to ask is: even with this affair, why didn't our young hero win and become our Idol? Either that says something about his talent, or the heat in this liason. In any case, it doesn't say much for him.