Elliot Yamin is so close to his mom. The guy wears an insulin pump to battle diabetes on a daily basis. I’m not really a fan, but my heart bleeds for him; I can’t help but respect his dexterity regardless of how he sings. How about Kellie Pickler? What did Simon call her, “a naughty little minx?” And she replied, asking what that was. C’mon, guys 16-40 would like to explain to her in detail. That cute, ditzy, little blonde thing has the younger dads paying attention. Oh, what’s that you ask, “Can she sing??” Really, does it even matter?

We’ve got rockers, represented originally by Chris Daughtry. Sure, Simon wasn’t crazy about Chris’ performance this week. But the guy is intense, and he pulls off the bald thing really well. He’s not entirely classy, but he’s classic – and he rocks.

Idol offers validation and relevance for all of us. The show hosts pop music icons every week. Last year, we had Elton John. Last week, a modern sensation, Shakira and Wyclef Jean. Earlier this year we started off with Stevie Wonder, then to Barry Manilow. Love or hate either of them, they really are legends and truly influenced R&B, pop, soul, and now provide the samples and hooks that keep us jamming on our iPods today. Hearing their songs takes us back to the times when we first heard them – the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. They create the nostalgia of days and times gone by and transfer us back to the excitement of another era.

American Idol enables us to transfer ourselves to the contestant’s experience. We can live their joy of being on top of the world when they hear the “you are not in the bottom three.” Unfortunately, we share in their disappointment when Seacrest says “this is the end of the road for you.”

We relate to them, their accents, race, style, smile, personality, and talent. For a moment in each song, we transfer ourselves to being onstage with them, sharing in that spotlight. And for a few seconds, through that transference, we are the American Idol, the next Pop Icon. All fears stress, and pain of daily life are gone, and all is right in our world.

That, my friends, is the secret behind the success of American Idol. It provides us each a chance to escape our daily lives, and transform into a star. The American psyche can’t resist the chance to be a star, an American Icon, if even only for a moment.

At the end of a long day, there’s nothing wrong with that.

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