I'm not ashamed that I watch American Idol.

One of the reasons is because it would be worse to deny, rendering myself a liar. But the other reason is that it makes me think I'm a music expert, even though I'm clearly not. I have horrible taste in music, at least compared to people who have reached beyond Billy Joel, showtunes, Queen and Weezer. I like good music, but I'm by no means a music fan like all my buddies are. They follow actual "bands" and "artists," of whom I have never or barely heard.

Anyway, another reason I like "American Idol" is because there is almost always a guy on it who reminds me of a guy in my life, past or present. Chris Daughtry from a couple of seasons back reminds me of a guy with whom I'm friends now, but had the kind of relationship in which we got along better when we weren't talking. This season, David Hernandez, the former-now-most-likely-current male stripper, reminded me of a butch Jai Rodriguez, with whom I attended high school. Also, the prematurely eliminated Michael Johns looks like he could be the hot older brother of a guy I dated last year, and David Cook reminds me of another guy I met in college. I try to gauge how cool the last guy is based on Cook's most recent performance, so this week, he's looking pretty good.

This is all a bit silly, but I'm really just glad Kristy Lee Cook is finally gone. She's not annoying, she's not even untalented, but she's boring as hay and I freaking hate country music.