Quick, name the winner of American Idol from season three. Give up? Her name is Fantasia Barrino, although she now just goes by Fantasia, because I'm sure it is written somewhere that to be a true diva more than one name is not allowed. Besides, we kind of like that one name thing in our idols: we talk about Kelly and Ruben and Taylor as if we know them.

But that's not the point. The point is, I'm not sure I'm ready for another idol.

Take Fantasia, for instance. Now don't get me wrong, this girl can sing. She also gets props from me because she's apparently stepped up to life and met it with faith and determination. But in the vocal department, how good is she? The allmusic.com review of Free Yourself, her debut album, claims she is not bad but also not great. The review was written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, and you can read it at allmusic.com or you can read it on iTunes. Or you can read the part I'm interested in here:

...And that reveals Fantasia's biggest weakness, which is part of the inherent flaw of American Idol: it rewards contestants who put on a show of being a great singer instead of actually being a great singer.

So what do you think? Is American Idol more about Simon than it is about finding a great singer? That is to say, is our reward for watching it the entertainment we get through the process rather than finding a star at the end of the rainbow? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

Don't fool yourselves, Kids. American Idol is not about identifying the best singer, it is about selling Coca-Cola and entertaining us with everything from embarrassing moments for some really bad singers to rare moments of triumph by some really good singers. Throw in the cat fights at the judges' table, the sniping between Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell, the back stories about the ten finalists, and of course the opportunity to vote and you've got plenty of things to keep you talking and tuning in.

That's not a bad thing, at least as long as we're looking for entertainment and not a singer to idolize.