South African Idol

It’s another season of South African Idol with auditions flooding the television screen. I sat down with the junior physicians around my age with our eyes glued to the screen and fingers in our ears. One satellite station devotes an entire night to Idol, showing EVERY SINGLE excruciating audition to the public. You literally don’t miss one second of the ear-wrenching action. Packs of ten sit outside the room stunningly quiet and nervous before they hit the torture room. The four judges are relentless and three out of four must idolize Simon Cowell. Although, I do agree that the most of the singers are incredibly poor.

American star power (good or bad) usually inundate the four public network channels. Many shows mimic the states like “South African Apprentice” and “South African Fear Factor.” Oddly enough Dr. Hla Tun loves Felicty and 7th Heaven. The Brits and the Afrikaners do represent with some surprising clichéd dramas, but maybe I viewed only a small scope of a truly enriching television experience… Nah.