This week’s installment of “Oh Brawling Love!” comes from the brilliant and talented Kyle Barisch, who is a singer, performer, and co-host of AfterElton.com’s hilarious vlog Sounds Like a Hit!  He’s also the co-star A Touch of Vegas, a crazy-awesome cabaret of the damned. (That’s him up there in the novelty bowtie.)

In keeping with the Oh Brawling Love! theme, Kyle will explain why he started out hating American Idol, then grew to love it. 

Hit it, Kyle!

Idol Hands, Devil’s Tools? or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love American Idol

By KYLE  BARISCH

What was it about American Idol that drove me crazy? It seemed like a no-brainer that I would love it. I mean, it’s an over-the-top weekly pop music spectacle, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Solid Gold. (I’m talking to you, Marilyn McCoo.) And I loved Solid Gold! AI’s got the same borderline-embarrassing choreography, the same chart hits from every decade, the same guest turns from washed up 80s musicians. . .basically, it’s got stuff that has been desperately missing from primetime television.

Plus, I’m a singer. What could be more fun than assuming the role of armchair critic, chiming in with vocal critiques and song suggestions?

It wasn’t so simple. To begin with, I came to AI a little late in the game. My friends were already getting together to watch every week, and I felt separated by my lack of interest. It was kind of like in high school when all the popular girls started having lunch at the Juice Club, and I didn’t get the appeal. Orange Dreamsicle smoothies? Yuck. (P.S.: Juice Club is now called Jamba Juice, and it’s another pop culture landmark at whose delicious altar I finally worship.)

I didn’t sit down and watch a full episode of American Idol until late in the first season. I had caught glimpses of the auditions and performances, and what I saw didn’t exactly encourage regular viewing. In fact, it literally sent shivers down my spine. I basically audition for a living, and anyone who auditions can tell you what a NOT delightful, NOT enjoyable experience it is. And the first few weeks of the AI season are like the world’s most hideous audition experience blown up to life size and broadcast to millions of people. The waiting in line with thousands of other anxious, desperate hopefuls? I can’t even fathom it, let alone work up the nerve to watch it as entertainment!

And then there are the audition-round performances themselves. I was totally shocked to find that AI features, nay, CELEBRATES, the most truly terrifying and terrible performances of all! The worst and most embarrassing performances are the ones that make it to the air in the first weeks of the season, and then they get repeated ad nauseum. This was the biggest hurdle for me to overcome. I thought it needlessly cruel to take these people, most of whom were already clearly deluded about their chances for success in showbiz, and spin their whole-hearted attempts at success into COMEDY!

I found this shocking and offensive, and for sure I looked like a giant dork for saying so at the aforementioned AI weekly watching parties.

Thank the gods of music that I eventually turned a corner. It was at the start of the fourth season, home to such vaunted contestants as Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis and eventual winner Carrie Underwood. It was during this season that I finally forced myself to endure the first few episodes—the painful fragmented auditions, the unnecessary personal stories about people we will never see again, and the Hollywood week, which annually seems to be the most poorly produced episode of the season. And yes, they were still prime examples of torture TV.

But lo and behold, once the show got down to the final 12 contestants, once they were permitted to sing a full song, once they were actually allowed enough material to show glimpses of true artistry. . . that’s when it all started to come together for me. See, having auditioned so much in my life, I know exactly how little of one’s talent you can demonstrate in 10 bars. And it was really driving me crazy to see people constantly slipping through the cracks in both directions—mediocre singers given a barely passing grade, and the truly gifted being sent home because of a forgotten word or single botched note.

Once the show began to kick in that season, however, I got sucked in because the concept hit home with me—the audience gets to catch a rising star. You know everyone has got something to show, and now the drama surrounds who is going to last the longest on the ice. It was electrifying to watch Carrie Underwood come out of her shell with Heart’s “Alone,” and now I’ve realized that each of the Top 12 episodes has at least one moment like that. Not to mention the fact that the house band rocks, and that means a regular space for live music during millions of people’s weekly TV routines.

I know the music industry is having one of the worst years in its history, but AI in its unique way is bringing pop music back into the mainstream. And I am a devoted fan of anything that elevates singing to this level of importance.

Now, I happily cringe along with the rest of America as we endure those horrid dance routines. And I scream at the screen when one of the judges gets it totally wrong (this season,  it’s usually Kara DioGuardi) or when someone really worthwhile gets sent home early. I definitely get it now, guys. Can I come back to those viewing parties??

BTW, the secret to the show’s success will always be Miss Priss, Simon Cowell. Without his acerbic and, yes, mostly dead-on commentary, the whole ship might sink under a tidal wave of treacle. And he’s just one of the many reasons why I will no longer miss an episode.