American Idol – A Good Investment?

It's no secret that I am not a fan of American Idol. The only season of American Idol that I actually watched, because it was 'strongly recommended' by my boss, was the one in which I repeatedly (and excessively) voted for Sanjaya (thank you www.votefortheworst.com!) Don't get me wrong, I think that the concept of going from a 'Nobody' to a 'Somebody' is appealing (as are most 'rags-to-riches' stories), but I'm just the kind of guy that focuses my attention on other things. With that being said, I found an article dealing with the cost of being a contestant on American Idol to be quite interesting.

In my short-lived relationship with American Idol, I never put any thought into what the average contestant must endure while competing on the program:  travel expenses, meals, lodging, wardrobe (each contestant gets $450 per week to go shopping with a fashion consultant), etc.  I loved what Jay MacDonald (no relation to Paul McDonald, American Idol contestant), contributor to Bankrate.com, wrote about what it can cost to compete.

Oh, and btw, vote for Paul McDonald. I think he is horrendous.