The Charge

Welcome…to-a-DVD-release-made-only-for-the-biggest-American-Idol-suckers!

The Case

So there's a little show around these parts that's fairly popular. A bunch of kids sing overwrought karaoke in front of three judges, one of whom says "dawg" a lot, another appears to be on a strict livestock medication regimen, and the last guy belittles people and crushes their dreams…and that's the best part of the entire affair.

Yes, it's American Idol and to many people the very fact that it's the highest-rated show on Yankee television signals the apocalypse is near. I don't watch the show, but I don't subscribe the view that it's an Affront to All that is Holy.

This DVD set, though—blech. Before I expound further upon that layered insight, here's what you can expect from these two discs. Disc One features the final performances of Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks, with the results show—mercifully abridged to include just the results—tacked on at the end, where you-know-who gets crowned as the next American Idol. That runs just north of fifty minutes.

Disc Two sports bonus footage including featurettes on Lewis and Sparks, tips from the producers on how to excel at the audition process, and some bloopers. All that clocks in at about 45 minutes. So why then is this thing broken up into two discs? My best bet is to make it look a whole lot more substantial than what it is.

And what is it? Old footage from last year that, if you're in the market for this release in the first place, you've no doubt watched several dozen times on your Tivo with some milquetoast behind-the-scenes stuff that you'll watch once, all transferred in its full frame, Dolby 2.0 stereo glory.

But who am I trying to kid? If you are in the fact in the market for a release like this, you obviously love yourself some AI, so this bad boy will look right at home next to the discs from past seasons and that full-color, autographed cutout of Sanjaya.

Similar Decisions

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• Dean Martin: Encore
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