Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/Fox/PictureGroup
I’m going to have to start off this American Idol on the scene recap with a small apology. It wasn’t until the final ad break of the night that I realized that the most powerful man at the Fox television network — nay, one of the most powerful men in the world – was seated just a few rows in front of my quasi-opera box seat inside the Idoldome. As some eagle-eyed home viewers can attest, Rupert Murdoch himself — chairman and CEO of News Corporation, Fox’s pappy/corporate owner — was seated with what appeared to be a small gaggle of the extended Murdoch family, a rare sighting indeed for even the most season Idoldome veteran. So rare, in fact, I didn’t even consider that the bald, bespectacled, well-dressed older gentleman was the man who could quite literally shut off the lights with just a flick of his Blackberry, so I won’t really be able to give you a fun blow-by-blow of how Rupert Murdoch takes in an episode of his most popular and lucrative cash cow. In my defense, I really only saw the back of his head until that aforementioned final ad break, when Fox TV head Peter Rice stepped out into the Idoldome and up to Murdoch’s row to pay his respects. (I’ve been meaning to bone up on my back-of-media-moguls’-heads flashcards for months now, but they just keep gathering dust on my credenza next to my tech mogul yacht 2007 calendar.)
But the moment I did realize Murdoch was in the house, the preceding events of the evening took on an entirely different flavor for me. READ FULL STORY »
The end, or so we’ve been told by a spirited fellow in Times Square, is apparently very much nigh. In fact, Judgment Day is scheduled for May 21, 2011. So unless our calculations our way off, that means we’ve only got 11 days until the Rapture. Aw, maaaaan.
