Honestly, I can't understand why people are acting so surprised that American Idol is such a growing hit, even 6 years after it started. It's just a modern version of The Original Amateur Hour. I remember watching the show on tv.
The '50's was "prime time" for "amateur performances." In the elementary school I went to, PS 46, Bayside, NY, the "cafeteria" was used as a classroom at first, baby boom days, and after that it wasn't large enough to seat all of us on those rainy days when we brought sandwiches to eat, rather than walking the 1-5 minutes home for lunch. We sat in the auditorium and ate. Remember that those were days before dvd's, computers, vcr's etc.
Do you wonder how the teachers kept us in our seats? Well, we were entertained. The stars were ourselves. Anyone who wanted could sing and/or play the piano, if I remember correctly. There were kids who performed everyday. I don't think that I ever got up on the stage during lunch.
