American Idol and “the country of country”

Last night, my daughter asked me to watch the television show American Idol while she did her homework so that I could call her when her favorite performer, Kimberly Locke, appeared. I obliged. I had never seen this program before and was impressed by the talent of the contestants (especially that of Kimberly), but a bit put off by the ethos of the show. Much later in the evening, after the Lakers-Timberwolves game turned into a rout, I stumbled on the country music version of American Idol, a program called Nashville Star. Again, I enjoyed the performances and this time I liked the ethos (graciousness and humility among the performers and kindness among the judges) as well. “The country of country,” as Trunk likes to call it, is unfamiliar territory to me, but it seems like a pretty congenial place.