The Battle of the Network Stars Award (2009)

The Battle of the Network Stars Award for
Best Reality Competition Series

Rank. Show- Total Points...(My Rank)
10th. The Bachelor- 0 points

9th. So You Think You Can Dance- 1 point

8th. Celebrity Apprentice- 3 points

7th. The Mole- 3 points...(5th)

6th. America's Got Talent- 6 points

5th. The Amazing Race- 6 points...(4th)

4th. Top Chef- 9 points

3rd. Survivor- 17 points...(3rd)

Runner-Up
2nd. Big Brother- 19 points...(1st)

The Poolie Goes To
1st. American Idol- 21 points...(2nd)

With no guest spot you are all stuck with me on this one...

American Idol is the highest viewed show in America and I can see why. Sometimes you like the contestants and sometimes you don’t, but they’re real, and all they are doing is singing. It’s something anyone can do, but every Tuesday night we get to watch the few that go from working real jobs where nobody knows their name to becoming pop culture icons in a matter of months. Carrie Underwood. Chris Daughtry. David Cook. These are great stories from a great show.

Idol would probably not work without the right group of host and judges (which is why the canned Dunkleman after season one). Whether it’s Ryan’s smarmy charm, Simon’s brutal honesty, Randy’s utter ignorance or Paula’s inability to be coherent, there is usually something for everyone. And in my case you enjoy loving some and hating others. With the start of season eight we were brought a fourth judge. Sometimes nothing makes me happier than to hit a pillow in frustration while Kara attempts to say something that she thinks has a chance of sounding good. If there’s one thing that I can agree on with EW.com’s Michael Slezak, it’s that even when I agree with Kara’s judgment, I still want to slap her in the face.

This season has truly been a treat. The storylines have really come together. Right out of the gates they threw too tearjerkers at us with ‘Blind’ Scott MacIntyre and Danny Gokey, the Widower. There were people complaining left and right about how these guys will get sympathy votes and in my opinion each of them went too far. Then we had the producers and judges set up of an Adam Lambert, Gokey, Lil Rounds top three. Everyone knew what they were trying, but somebody forgot to tell Lil to be good at singing and not be annoying. Lil’s early entry made way for a couple of early unknowns to creep up on everybody. We didn’t get much back story on Allison Iraheta or Kris Allen and yet they both ended up in the final four.

Andy finally we get to the finale. Last year it was David vs. David and for season eight of idol we have a true David vs. Goliath match-up. Glambert is a loud, dramatic performer with a ton of confidence who was touted as the favorite since day one. Kris is the soft spoken, musically talented dark horse who no one thought would make the top ten. A much more interesting season than a year ago.