Sucked into the `Idol' maw

I knew there'd be a theater connection eventually so I could write about it here.A point of pride for me the last seven years or so was that I had never so much as seen an episode of "American Idol." It was hard not to know every detail of the show, even without watching it, because it is treated as big news by every news outlet imaginable (except maybe Horse & Rider).But this season, under the influence of a loved one, I got sucked in and I have even -- please don't judge -- voted more than once in the past few weeks.If you don't know the "Idol" way, they try to liven things up by having "mentors" come in. The first one this season was Dolly Parton, and when the Idols sang her songs, the results were generally better than you might expect. This week was Mariah Carey, and the boys, surprisingly, outshone the girls singing Ms. Carey's songs.Next week, the mentor is Andrew Lloyd Webber, which means that the six remaining finalists -- David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook, Sayesha Mercado, Carly Smithson and Brooke White (I did that from memory -- somebody save me) -- will be singing SHOW TUNES! Never mind that they'll also be dealing with the weirdness that is Sir Andrew. Remember when he "mentored" on the Grease casting/reality show "You're the One that I Want"? Honestly, I thought maybe he was a high-functioning autistic man. And remember how generally awful the young contestants were singing his songs? And those were show kids trying out for a musical. I'm nervous about these Idol popsters and the show tunes.But I'm hoping David Cook (my fave at the moment) sings "Gethsemane" from Jesus Christ Superstar.And may I just be petty and say how very happy I am that Kristy Lee Cook (KLC -- The Colonel as they say on Television Without Pity) has moved on?Here's a little something from YouTube to tide us (notice how I say us assuming that since I'm watching, everyone is) over until next Tuesday. It's David Archuleta, a young man from Utah with a beautiful voice, sort of butchering "For Good" from Wicked.