To be in full disclosure, I should mention I am not a fan of
American Idol. Allowing my children to tune in
and Watch
Simon Cowell belittle people about their appearance and watch the continued total melt down of
Paula Abdul
is just not my idea of entertainment. But, I do not begrudge anyone who does watch the show. I understand the general appeal and i'm
certainly not going to tell people what they should and shouldn't watch.
BUT(T)....that being said, I have a bone to pick with American Idol and
Blake Lewis.
On Friday May 11th, Blake was given a little parade by the City of Bothell and he put on a concert at the Bothell Landing, the cities
major downtown park. News radio put the crowd at 5,000. After the fact news reports put it at 5-7,000, and the mayor of Bothell, whom
I contacted via email, mentioned a figure of 10,000. The parade was suppose to start at 3:30pm, and his mini concert was to be at 4:00pm. As it turns out, he was late. The concert did not start until around 5:00pm. Not a big deal you say? Well, let me give you the dirt.
5:00pm on a Friday night.
Bothell is a major connection on/off ramp for the 405 freeway.
Can you say traffic snafu?
Traffic was backed up for miles on the freeway and side roads. Sections of Bothell were shut down completely for the parade and for the safety of all the people who came into town. To give you an idea of how bad it was, a 15 minute drive from work took me 2 hours.
This, however, was not how the city and we tax payers were
screwed by American Idol.
This is.
"The American Idol television show has requested that the hometown of the final three contestants including Bothell's contestant Blake Lewis, honor them with a parade and a guest appearance".
As posted on the City of Bothell website
05/10/07.
You get it? American Idol wanted some footage of each hometown celebrating their new celeb as being in the final 3. The city was given less then a day to organize this "event".
Now for the screw. Guess who had to PAY for all of this traffic mess and extra police on hand. Yup, you guessed it. Bothell tax payers, that's who. Bothell was screwed by American Idol. This is one of the most popular TV shows on. They make millions in advertiser revenue. You would think they would help pay for said "welcome home" bash. After all, it's footage they essentially TELL us to create
FOR their show so THEY can make millions.
- Scott