American Idol and The State of The Union

Watching the Fox channel last night was like listening to an ipod on shuffle and going from a Hillary Duff song to a Bob Dylan song. There is probably no good way to transition from American Idol (especially the audition episodes) to the State of The Union Address. As different as the two programs might be, I was surprised to recognize some similarities. Here are a few (I would love to hear your additions):

• The audience for both is probably depressingly the same size, or Idol's is larger.
• Everyone is excited before the Idol auditions, but after the auditions about half leave in tears or angry. In the same way everyone seems happy and cheerful before the State of the Union, but afterwards you find half the people are happy or at least content and the other half is ticked off.
• Regardless of your political views you have to admit that Bush is about as uncomfortable giving a speech as most of the people performing auditions for Idol. (though Bush has gotten much better!)
• Just like I don't to watch the Idol auditions for the singing but for the response of the judges, I am more interested in hearing what the pundits say after the speech than the speech itself (I don't necessarily respect the pundits, they are just more interesting).
• Just like the auditions for Idol are usually filled with musical fluff (how many can try out with a Celine Dion song, etc), the State of The Union is generally filled with political fluff.
• Just like the facial reactions and expressions of Simon, Randy and Paula are more interesting than the auditions themselves, so is the response of congress (who could miss Hillary Clinton's smug smile and head shake) more interesting than the address itself.
• The goofy opening title for American Idol is a little more overstated than the opening titles for the news shows, but only a little.
• The only thing that I wish was a little more similar is that I wish the guy that says "Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of The United States" was as fake cool as Ryan Seacrest.
• Oh, and maybe instead of Bush saying "And may God Bless America" (tradition I know) he could say "Bushy Out"! (its more politically correct anyway)