American Idol, like anything else I’ve ever loved, is exhausting. The week-by-week eliminations are exhausting. The contestant backstories, reiterated hundreds of times through a season like peer pressure warnings in a D.A.R.E. video, are exhausting. Ryan Seacrest’s distinctly Pat Sajak-ian blend of hospitality and palpable contempt is exhausting. I’m hyperventilating ... More »
