American Idol and its preliminary auditions are the source of much entertainment and discussion among casual and hardcore fans of the biggest show on TV. The auditions bring a diverse group of singers to the homes of the waiting to be entertained throngs. The problem is, the ones we see on TV really aren't that diverse. The people FOX show us on the audition episodes come in three categories: Really good, really bad, or those who have a sob story. And that's it. Never the pretty good. Never the mediocre. Of course, I understand the reasons; they make perfect sense. Who wants to see the middle? We want the extremes.

While most of the media's attention gets focused on the truly terrible auditions, I think we should celebrate the good auditions much more than we do. There are some incredible singers that audition alone on in that room. Lots are better than a number of the biggest pop stars today. We underestimate how difficult it is to sing a cappella, not to mention venture in front of three celebrities and numerous TV cameras for the first time.

These great singers are demolished by the presence of the weird, bizarre and awful lot of people who foolishly either believe they can sing, or just want to get on TV. It's frustrating, but it's also indicative of our fascination with trash culture. As long as people are willing to watch this in huge numbers, FOX will continue to troll out the most extreme people out there and generally they are the worst. It's an indictment of our culture and something that FOX could easily lay off and show more of the good. But it's FOX, and it won't.

Check out the top ten American Idol auditions in the link below to see what brings out the best or the worst of television talent shows.