Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Tom, It's Been Fun...

Many times this season--including today--I have mentioned my new friend Tom in Sarasota. Tom is a reporter for the “Sarasota Herald Tribune,” who was tasked with covering the journey of hometown girl Syesha Mercado. The only problem is that Tom had never watched “Idol” before.

Enter me.

It’s been a lot of fun talking with Tom each week as he started to discover all of the little idiosyncrasies of the show that we already know. And he always asked questions that made me think about the show in ways I never have before.

And quite frankly, it’s always nice to feel smart.

Here’s what Tom wrote about me on March 25th:

“Somebody in the newsroom just complimented my "American Idol" knowledge,
which is alarming, because that makes me a fraud who hasn't been properly
documenting his sources.
Well, source.

Several times a week I call Angela Henderson, who writes the "Idol
Chit-Chat" blog for the “Herald-Dispatch” newspaper in Huntington, W.Va.
Henderson is a college administrator who's been devoted to "American Idol" since
the first season. She's been kind enough to share her knowledge with me, and I
haven't been kind enough to properly credit her each time I write
something.

My excuse is that I'm trying to write quick, tight copy, and attribution
slows things down, but that's not much of an excuse.

So let me be clear: Henderson knows just about everything about "American
Idol," while I know almost nothing. She's been my expert guide this season.
Several times this year she's even guessed the songs that Syesha would sing.
Pretty impressive.”


See what I mean about feeling smart?

And yes, I’m aware that he’s wrong about me knowing everything, but it’s still cool that he would say it.

So, with the departure of the scrappy and classy Syesha tonight, I thought I would take this opportunity to say goodbye. Tom, if you’re reading this, I have truly enjoyed talking with you this season. If anyone from Sarasota makes the cut next year, feel free to give me a call…

And if anyone else out there would like to take Tom’s place in making me feel smart, you are more than welcome…