Hope's Alive

Since 2007 I have been waiting. 

2007 was the last year a woman won American Idol - Well, at 16 Jordin Sparks wasn't quite a woman when she took the title.  Although through Season 8 I championed the unlikely Kris Allen all the way to the first place spot, I have wanted another woman to win every year since then.  Of all the things wrong in the world, of all the things to hope for, hoping for a woman to win American Idol is unquestionably trite, yet it was a fervent wish of mine as this season kicked off.

With every male contestant eliminated and five women left standing in this unprecedented season of American Idol, it appears my wish has come true. 

Why American Idol?  Because I get to watch someone else's dream come true.  In fact, I get to help make their dream come true. I get to sort through a talented bunch of people and eliminate the egos, the slouches and the hacks until I've found the singer who touches my heart and inspires me. 

I love American Idol. 

Although the top five are all women, the situation still isn't ideal to me.  As I type tonight, I watched my favorite, Janelle Arthur, get eliminated.  I think I knew Janelle wasn't going to be the winner, like I knew Haley Reinhart and Hollie Cavanagh were probably not going to be the winners.  After Janelle's stunning performance of "You Keep Me Hanging On" I felt a glimmer of hope that the rest of the world was seeing what I had seen for weeks.  I can't help it.  Though I have a frightening competitive streak, and I hate to lose, I'm also a sucker for an underdog and hopelessly romantic when it comes to a lost cause.  Some might say giving up is easy, but it's actually not.  Giving up when your heart is telling you to keep holding on even while it's breaking is not easy, or I suppose I would have many times by now. 

I keep hoping, because every once in a while, someone like Kris Allen wins American Idol, and every once in a while, the baby they said would die moments after birth lives for ten days and changes the world.  Every once in a while, the hope you were told to let go of proves itself worth holding on to.