I never expected....

She was adamant. We had to go. All ten American Idols were performing that night in an "American Idols Live" concert and my mom was insistent. I was a little baffled. None of us are big American Idol fans, I mean we all watch it here and there--you have too if you want to get the jokes on the radio, SNL or understand what in the world the store register lady is talking about--but we're not die hards. It would be a good experience for our two exchange students, my mom said. True. Want a dose of uniquely American culture, watch American Idol. But going to the concert required money and a long broken-English conversation about what the show American Idol was in the first place.

Still, I admit, I had fun. The place was packed out, the lights were cool, the singers (for the most part) were great, and most happily of all I recognized the songs.

I'm not one of those savvy music people who knows all the names of all the new bands, sings along with every song, knows every musician, is on a first name basis with at least five of them, or spends hours in music stores pouring over CD. No. I'm that person who sings the melody but knows none of the words, thought Gwen Stefani was one word, had never witnessed a mosh pit until last year, didn't know that musicians perform in venues or did gigs and what the heck are vinyls?

Concerts, the few of them I have been to, are usually boring affairs. I don't know the musicians, I don't know the songs, I lose my hearing and can't sleep that night because of the high-pitched squeal echoing in my head.

American Idol singers, on the other hand, don't sing their own songs, they sing everyone else's songs, and usually popular ones at that. I sang along with a few of them and clapped as wildly as the others. And seeing as though the age of the crowd ranged from age 5 to 85, the dancing was clean and the sound level moderate.

Hmm... who would have thought I'd enjoy and American Idols concert?