Undergoing Idol Withdrawal Syndrome

By Team David



Today is one of those times of the year when my sister would ask me, “Oh, karanun mu yata migising ngeni? Ng atin…”

Well my dear sister, today is the culminating point of many months of waiting since January 16. It’s the Results Finale! It’s two hours worth of heavyweight musical extravaganza. So even if I slept just a few hours ago surfing god-knows-what in the internet, I will still get up and get ready. The new American Idol will finally be crowned. And as always, it’s been an amazing journey.

At the risk of sounding like I am the contestant, well, having watched every single episode of the current season for the first time (I don’t get to watch the audition episodes before), it does feels like I’ve taken the great Idol journey myself. Wednesdays and Thursday evenings will never be the same again. Gosh *with matching gasp ala Archuleta*, this actually sucks!

While American Idol obviously changes the lives of its contestants forever, most especially for the eventual ultimate winner (and its runner-ups, actually), in my case, it changes my life significantly, at least as far as my weekly routine is concerned for the first four months of the year.

This time next week, there will be no more downloading of live performances so that I can overplay them the whole week on Winamp or on my cellphone when I am on the go. No more downloading of studio versions from YouTube and converting them to MP3 so that I can overplay them some more. No more downloading the original artists of the performed songs – this is one of the best things I like about Idol, it exposes me to a whole new music before me generation. No more frequenting the various online Idol forums, blogs and commentaries so that when I talk about Idol with friends, I can act like so authoritative and all-knowing about Idol like I am Nigel Lythgoe’s personal confidante. No more torrenting of the episodes, as if watching the episode on cable TV 4 times in a single day isn’t enough. No more texting of my predictions on who will be eliminated to Gboi, Justin and Kong Doby and gloat whenever I get it right. No more weekly dose of my favourite Idols. No more Davids, Carly, Michael, Ramiele, Kristy Lee, Brooke. No more.. no more. Oh my, this is depressing!

On the plus side, this means I can go out on Wednesday and Thursday nights already! Because whenever Idol is around, I make it a point to be comfortably at home come 6pm. I even watch the replay at 8pm and 11.30pm, as if by some twist of fate, they will sing new songs and be treated with another hour of music treat. Sometimes, when I have nothing to do, I catch even the 1.30pm replay the next day. But hey, who am I kidding? It’s not like I’m the type who goes out on weeknights or any other night for that matter. Idol has been my life the past few months. Not only do I watch and listen Idol, I even effing eat, breathe and live Idol! One night, I even dreamt i was best buddies with Archuleta and that Michael Johns was a big brother. Haha! Haaay, now what am I gonna do during these time slots? My brain is gonna seize in boredom!

This season has not been perfect. The Top 12 were eliminated out of order making the latter weeks before the Finale feel quite underwhelming. The first Filipina who really had a chance to win it all blew it with her poor song choices and clothes. There were too many themes that catered more to my grandparents than teenagers and young adults like me who actually have the passion to vote vigorously through each week (I would if I lived in the US). The ratings are down and there were too many gaffes and negative rumors against ‘The Powers That Be’ and their plants and 'chosen ones' that made me think more than usual if Idol really isn’t rigged. But hey, I still watch and it’s my choice. No matter how frustrated I become, Idol just always gets me drooling over the Idols like a high school kid, crying as if they’re my own sisters or brothers when they get eliminated. Only Idol had me standing on my bed clapping after a goose bumpy performance. I can't help it, really.

EDIT: So David Cook won. For the first time in three years, menyambut ku keng Idol pustahan! Woohoo! A record breaking 97.5 million votes. Wow. So what do you think of the Finale? How about the result? Shouldn’t it have been Archuleta instead? (Hell yeah!). Do you think David Cook’s coronation cheese schlock Time Of Your Life will debut at the Billboard #1 just like the previous Idols (well, except Jordin)? Do you think the crap that is Pinoy Idol will get the same number of votes in its own Finale? (Yeah, more like divided by 1 million!). Who was your favorite non-Idol performer in the results Finale? Comment, comment! And don’t forget to click the ads that-must-not-be-named!

And the countdown to the next American Idol season on January 2009 begins! Ninu na naman kayang kapustahan ku kanita?