That’s what one of the kids lined up outside the Qwest Center, waiting for the American Idol auditions, said. The Omaha episode aired last night on Fox. Yea. I typically pride myself on NOT watching this ridiculous phenomenon called reality television, but last night I made an exception. I probably shouldn’t have. The city officials can say all they want that AI made Omaha look good, but I thought they portrayed our small city as a one-horse hick town, famous only for our corn. (Seriously, corn??? I don’t think of corn when I hear “Omaha” – I think steak!!!) MSNBC went on and on about how all the good ‘ole boys and girls trying out “aw-shucks’ed” their way to Hollywood. I guess I’m frustrated by the fact that they felt a need to “portray” Omaha at all. Auditions in bigger cities – New York, L.A. – don’t need to be depicted like this. They simply say “We’re in Los Angeles, CA, auditioning contestants for American Idol.” Period. Why pick on us smaller towns? Why does the rest of the world need to be presented with a caricature of life in Nebraska? Great. Now we’re the small honky Midwestern city where nothing ever happens, filled with corn and crazy Goth girls that laugh like hyenas.
