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Wow! I mean Wow! That's what I call an opening show.
That bikini audition in Phoenix from Katrina Darrell was certainly one way to kick off Season Eight of the kinder and gentler American Idol. Well, mildly kinder and gentler - with his eyes bulging out of his skull and drool dripping from his mouth over Darrell's taut figure, it was still the same old Simon Cowell.
Check out more on American Idol here.
Even with host Ryan Seacrest trying to high five a blind man who made it through to the next round, Idol will always be Idol. It's a part of our cultural landscape now, just like similar shows are all over the world. Yet, the risk of public humiliation that contestants take when they audition for American Idol is nothing when you realize that contestants in Afghanistan risk losing their lives when they participate in their native equivalent.
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Over a third of the country watch Afghan Star every week, voting online and via text message for the winners. Even though a bit of pop culture is returning to Afghanistan, fighting for control of the country continues between the drug warlords, the US-led coalition, and the Taliban. In such a frayed state, women, who have been harshly repressed under fundamentalist rule, in particular are most at risk. They also have, as Afghan Star the film shows, the most to gain. The 87-minute film follows four hopefuls, three of them women, as they sing and struggle for stardom and sheer freedom in a nation still torn by conflict.
Check out Afghan Star, the TV show here
What American Idol tells us about America in the early years of the 21st century is uncomfortably entertaining. What Afghan Star tells us about Afghanistan and about the power and importance of pop culture is epic.
Films like Afghan Star are what makes the Sundance Film Festival so vital. Make fun of Robert Redford's clinging to relevance as much as you like, I do, but don't forget the Utah based fest is still one of the leading film festivals in the world and a vigorous and unparalleled proponent of the art of cinema.
The Sundance Film Festival runs from January 15 to the 25th. Check out more of the Sundance Film Festival here
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Afghan Star, a feature documentary on the television program, is being released in New York on June 26th with a national rollout to follow! The film follows four finalists, including two women, and shows how the competition has affected their lives and the communities around them. Check it out!
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