And I am watching this....

1. Confession time: I have an appalling fixation on reality shows. There I said it. I don't know why but somehow I find these shows are very compelling... enough for me to keep on watching or at least following it rather religiously online.

2. Take the recently concluded American Idol for instance. I don' t really get to watch it every week and even if I did, I somehow would miss one or two performances (incidentally I missed quite a few of Adam Lambert's showy performances). But I make sure I follow all the gory details in the countless websites and blogs. In fact, I'll be on standby on Thursday mornings awaiting the elimination results on www.realitynewsonline.com as Astro would only screened the results show later that day. Does that make me an addict? Or simply a weirdo?

3. Speaking of American Idol, I'm sure all are aware that Kris Allen was voted as the latest idol, much to the chagrin of my wife and daughters. But not me. I'm a Kris supporter. Naturally, I gloat... big time. Which of course, further annoyed the wife. And I gloat some more. What fun!!!!

4. But now Britain's Got Talent is all the rage at home. (Yeah, I know its rather unpatriotic but really we can't stomach Akademi Fantasia anymore, sorry). And no, it has nothing to do with Susan Boyle. Sure, she can sing. True, her story is .. urm.. grippingly interesting. But there are other better talents. Like Diversity... a dance act group who wowed audiences with their out of this world choreography. We were simply blown away...

5.  Of course, the girls are rooting for Shaun Smith. And the wife is all for Shaheen Jafargholi. But collectively, we are all for Diversity.

6. Coming back to the other reality shows, admittedly, there are many lousy and rather stupid shows like Wife Swaps, Paris Hilton's My New BFF,, The Bachelors, America's Next Top Model, and Extreme Makeover, among others. But still, sometimes I find myself watching them anyway. ("Gawd! I can't believe I am confessing to watching these ridiculous shows.")

7. But we do get inspired from some of these shows. We find recipes (Top Chef), go to countries we only dream about (The Amazing Race), get pointers on how to deal with devilish bosses (Hell's Kitchen and The Apprentice) and watch designers create outfits (Project Runway).

8. And then there's The Biggest Losers. This one gives me HOPE!!!!