Mario who?

Did you read the one about Mario Vasquez, one-time American Idol 4 Top Twelve-er, who recently ran into Ashlee and Jessica Simpson in a private room at a hip party place?

Apparently, Mario approached the singing sisters and asked that they pose for a photograph with him. They declined. Then declined again. Then called security, who explained whatever part of "declined" Mario did not understand.

The worst part of the story, however, is that Mario is said to have explained to the singing sisters that he, too, knew what it was like to be a "celebrity" and to be hounded for autographs. And so on into infinite embarrassment.

You can almost see the mental telepathy going on at this point between Ash and Jess.

And, really, what does it say about your celebrity hot-o-meter if you're dissed by Ashlee Simpson?

Ouch.

Anyway. At least this was what was reported by gossip mavens in the New York press. And it wasn't one of those stories that caused flags of incredulity to fly into the air.

On the contrary, I found myself thinking this item was just the perfect caption on the picture I thought Mario painted of himself throughout AI4: that of an overly impressed, but ultimately naïve young man who thought that television equaled life and that having one's picture on E! equaled making it to the big-time.

Well, no.

While, thanks to reality television, millions of cable channels clamoring for guests and stories 24/7, and the internet, more and more people are having fame-like experiences, Fame---rightly understood as an enduring recognition and interest by the general public---seems harder than ever to achieve (if "achieve" is even the right word for it).

Although speculation swirled on the reasons for Mario's abrupt departure (past tense, you see, because people are already so over the Mario drama--which is, as we are getting to, my point), the most reasonable explanations centered on contractual hesitations and the pending re-release of a cd that featured Mario's vocals.