American Idol: An Old Idea Could Bring New Jobs

Few people these days aren't keeping up with American Idol. I have to admit that it can be exciting at times seeing the artists and the iteraction of the judges as they goof around and act silly that is until they get down to the serious business of judging the acts. Love'em or hate'em you want to hear what they've got to say especially about your favorite acts. Now for me I'm rootin' for Lil' Rounds all the way, but I was disappointed when Alexis Grace got eliminated. That wasn't a good move to me because the girl had the goods to be one of the top contenders there but I think they're determined to have a man win it again because the top eight has mostly men in it. I think two or three women are left with Lil' Rounds being the strongest contender but I'm not certain.
Regardless who you're rooting for it's obvious that American Idol is an American phenomenon. It looked like it was in trouble a few years back but it's stronger than ever pretty much winning it's timeslot every week. But a few weeks back I got to thinking about American Idol and remembered other shows that were in the same veign as American Idol. Remember: Star Search, Big Break, The Gong Show, Showtime at the Apollo Amature Night. Anyone remember those shows? Well in remembering those shows I remembered my own experience in dealing with talent shows for when I was younger me and several classmates won a lot of local talent shows and went to the big talent show at the Mid-South Fair. It was a big event and man we were so nervous when we got up on that stage because it was a huge crowd and they had their eyes on us. We did ok though we didn't win, but it was a good experience and wet my appetite for more of that sort of thing. But I've noticed lately here no such opportunities seem to be available in the community anymore. What happened to all the local contests that used to provide opportunity and seasonal jobs for our cities?
The reason I bring this up is because I've noticed over the years how opportunities for people in our communities especially the kids have dwindled down to very few if anything at all and as with most people I've been so concerened with my own life I hadn't really noticed until now. But the talent contests that once were held regularly every year, all of them seem to be gone now. And with them also are gone jobs(temporary though they may be)that the community lost. They may not have been much but in these times any opportunity is well worth the effort. Downsizing is a popular word and a wise idea these days and getting back to local economies. Not a whole whole lot of jobs will be created through starting back the talent shows and the like but many jobs will be created in management, promotions, administration, as well as stagehands. Notwithstanding that it will provide opportunities for those who are interested in a showbiz career for back in the day aspiring stars used to cut their teeth on these talent shows and gained valuable stage experience before they got signed by major labels and went on tour. Then people seemed to have forgotten that shows like American Bandstand and Soul train started off as local shows in the Philadelphia and Chicago areas respectively. There used to be a lot of these local shows that showcased local talent in their area and all ofthem have gone the way of the dinosaur. Wouldn't it be a good idea to bring these local traditions back? It wouldn't solve all of the current econmomic problems but hey, it wouldn't hurt it none either. Besides in the current climate we need to start looking for answers within our own communities, cities, and states because if we don't provide opportunity for our own neighbors and such no one else will and people will only move away to places where they feel they have a chance to make it. So why not try right where we're at and not just in entertainment but in other fields as well. I personally though would like to see our own American Idols brought back so the communities can take pride in supporting their own.