Drum Roll Please - talent search on the subway

I have never watched any more than about 15 minutes of American Idol.  For starters, I don’t have the time or patience to spend on what I think is a crime against the sacred art of music.  The notion that if I have an inkling of talent I have to travel a long way at my own expense, on the hope that I can defy astronomical odds to be selected to go on the show and display my amateur-grade skills and be judged by folk not necessarily equipped to pass judgment on me (and who may or may not have true talent themselves), is maddeningly oxymoronic.

Why does talent have to go to them? If American Idol really, I mean REALLY, wanted to “discover” talent, they would actually try going out and looking!  This method would certainly weed out all those poor souls with voices only their momma’s want to hear (even you diehard Idol fans know what I'm talking about).  Personally, I’d like to see American Idol hold a face off between these Chicago bucket drummers and the street drummers of Edinburgh, Scotland.  Have a look for yourself:

  VS 

Musical talent, both vocal and instrumental, is not as hard to discover as one would think.  At the risk of sounding very cliché, music is all around us, everywhere. (Oh, how very “August Rush” of me!)  In my own experience, especially riding the subway, I’ve encountered folk from all walks of life.  Modern day Billy Holiday’s and Tito Puente’s are sharing their sacred arts with us daily on street corners and subway platforms all over the city of Chicago.  I know they’re in your cities too, just waiting for Steven Tyler or J.Lo. to stroll by and listen for a few minutes.  Yes, like Idol auditions, there are those street performers who are making more noise than music, but the majority are really gifted individuals with stories much more inspiring than The Soloist.  

I had intended on posting a clip of a subway rapper I ran into the other day who was rappin' about my lovely Red Line but found out that my cell phone's audio-video capabilities are not as "totally awesome" as the salesman claimed they were...drat...maybe next time.  Until then, here's what some folks are saying about Chicago street performers.