An interesting little tidbit was discovered about TV viewers this week. They prefer Karaoke to musicians. On Wednesday, both American Idol & The Grammys were televised at the same time. When they went head-to-head, the glorified Karaoke teenie bopper Idol had 28.3 million viewers while the music industry's Grammys had 15.1 million. Which one did I watch? Neither. I was practicing with my loud rock band in the basement of our guitarist's place, and I didn't care about either program. Of course, I'm still fascinated by the data.

The first and most obvious point that must be made is that of TV viewers. TV viewers like TV. They don't necessarily like music, except for maybe a neat diddy behind their commercials. TV viewers like TV personalities. A bulk of the Idol viewers no doubt tune in to see the hosts berate the singers as much as the songs themselves. They don't necessarily like eccentric musicians who come from Ireland or sing about Gold Diggers. TV viewers like routine. It's Wednesday night, so that means I watch American Idol, & then Lost, & then CSI & then Leno or Letterman (whoever has the guest I like). I can't wait until Thursday night.

The data also suggest that people like this Karaoke stuff. I personally am not a fan, but that's just me. Lots of people love the Karaoke. In my town, you can go to the country western bars, frat bars, retro bars, rock bars, sports bars, gay bars, Irish pubs, hotel lounges, corner bars, bowling alleys and dives to pick a song to wail. All of these places have one thing in common, you can drink at them.

Karaoke is cheap entertainment, and as people have told me, it's better to go with a group of people. This way you can get sloshed together and cheer each other on as you slur through the songs. Nothing wrong with that, but I have other ways to make an ass of myself. Then, there's the people who take it seriously. The Idol wannabes. They come warmed up, prepared, and ready to blow you away with their singing prowess. Umm, all I can say is get in a band or get a new life.

Back to this Idol vs. Grammy debate. People signal that it's yet another sign that the music industry is struggling. The key word here is INDUSTRY. Let me shed a crocodile tear for the INDUSTRY. Music will never die. In fact, I would maintain that there are more varieties and styles of music occurring now than ever in the history of man. You can go to the symphony, groove with jazz cats, take in the folk vibe, rock your head off a dozen different ways, swing it up with the country boys, get experimental with the laptop electronic gurus, go dark with the goths, bust a move with the hip hoppers, shake your money maker with DJs, or kick back with a sultry lounge singer. Trust me, I'm leaving a lot of choices out.

There are so many choices these days that trying to find that band or diva that will unite everyone is futile. When Beethoven was doing his thing, there weren't a ton of folks coming up with new styles. When rock was fresh, it was Elvis. Then, it was the Beatles. Then, everyone followed the formula, making their own changes. Now, it is next to impossible to unite a society with so many options. Only the fresh faced kids experiencing the rigmarole of life for the first go around can get on the same bandwagon. A Nirvana comes around only once a generation if you're lucky.

So American Idol beats the Grammys. I've never watched more than five minutes of the Idol, but I can tell you the winners: There's Kelly & Rueben & Fantasia & Fox. This show is basically A Chorus Line with three judges instead of one (singular sensation), Fox combined reality TV with Karaoke & cute fresh faced kids (some of them even have talent!), and the whole thing blew up to gain a dedicated audience. Once a TV show does that, it takes a lot to sway its fan base (see the multiple versions of CSI & Law & Order). Not even the Grammys can keep me away from the routine.

TV regularly shoots for the most common denominator. This means the best programming rarely survives. The most popular shows are simple, pretty and steeped with shallow drama. Don't freak out too much about the Idol vs. Grammys data. After all, it's just TV, and all the results are fixed.

Chris Jungle has never won an award for his singing.