Diamond Vision

There were moments last night when I glanced around and we all were watching the show with our hands over our eyes, peeking out through our fingers. We couldn't bear direct viewing. We needed to hide. A friend of mine refers to this as "diamond vision". There was much diamond vision going on last night.

I am continuously baffled at those who truly BELIEVE that they can sing. Not even that they could be the next American Idol. But that they can actually carry a tune. I don't get it. They cannot hear themselves. They sing and they hear Maria Callas ... but what's coming out is a horrific wolf-howl. How are they SO off in their assessment of their abilities?

Jessica Rhode - the first girl to sing - with her strange thin lips, her protruding apple cheeks, and her disturbing skirt made of 1/4 denim and 3/4s ... billowy sheer curtains ... was blown AWAY that she was rejected. She could not get her mind around the fact that they had said No. Her response to the judges when it was a unanimous "No" was: "Are you serious???" She was gobsmacked. It had never even occurred to her that she would be turned down.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? She's seen the show. She knows that a bazillion people are auditioning. Putting aside the fact that she could not sing - how could she have not been aware of the fact that the answer might be "No"? How does one hide from reality so successfully?

So for me, it's not only the terrible singing that brings about the diamond vision. It is also the shocking lack of self-awareness.

My favorite quote of the night was from Simon (big surprise):

"You're singing opera, and you're dressed as Apollo Creed. What do you want me to say to you?"

He had had it.

Oh, and Paula had a moment where I think what she said was, "I'm gonna pass", but it came out sounding like, "Mmmonna pss."

Come again?