OK. I admit it. I went to the American Idol concert in Ft. Lauderdale. I am kind of embarrassed to admit it, but the reality is that American Idol has been a great show for musicians all over the world. As a writer and website owner that seeks to find new talent, I would be remiss if I didn’t check this little show out.

I realize that American Idol is fairly silly most of the time and they make these kids sing ridiculous songs, but in the end, their objective is (other than making a zillion dollars) to find new talent. They have achieved that by discovering artists such as Chris Daughtry,Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jordan Sparks, and now David Cook. That makes it worthwhile. The journey is crazy, but by the time they go through everything involved in the show, these guys are seasoned professionals.

If you remember a show called Rock Star INXS and Rock Star Supernova, you saw a great show with a much higher level of overall talent. These musicians were just that, musicians. The show allowed them to play instruments, write their own songs, and be original.

American Idol made some great progress this year in that respect. By allowing the artists to play their instruments, the audience was drawn to the artists who had more talent than just a voice. Next year, they need to open the window a little larger and give more creative freedom to them. They can’t pigeon hole them into specific artists music like Diana Summer or someone from 30 years ago. It’s got to be current and creative. David Cook won because he took the chances and showcased his tremendous talent.

As far as the show, I’ve got to say it was good. Not great and not bad. Just good. The concert was a lot like the TV show. Each artist performed three songs and they moved in the order which they got eliminated. The songs were abbreviated versions of the originals and primarily were songs they sang on the American Idol show.

The first five artists seemed like they were rushing through the songs and never really sold the audience on their commitment to music. They performed well, their voices were great, and they looked good. They will all have some future in the business but nothing major.

The highlight of the five was Kristy Lee Cook. She sang pretty well but mostly she is absolutely, drop dead gorgeous. She could have a decent country album. Michael Johns has good voice and sang well, but I thought he was kind of strange in his delivery. He bounces a lot and not really with the beat of the music. That bothered me. He did a nice job on “Dream On” by Aerosmith.