It's a good day to be a Sanjaya fan. At least, if you live in or near the greater Seattle metropolitan area. The former American Idol fan favorite is performing soon.

Sanjaya will sing in the Intiman Theatre's production of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity. He'll be joined by two other former Idol-ites, Karma Johnson from season one, and Leah LaBelle from season three. All three will have solos in two performances of Black Nativity on Sunday, December 2nd.

And you thought Sanjaya's 15-minutes were up?

Say what you want about his crazy hair and warbly renditions of Something to Talk About, the kid is still singing and he's doing meaningful stuff. I think he might have a crooning career ahead of him.

Catching that blurb about Sanjaya was just one of the latest things to rekindle my angst for the next season of American Idol. Last season's winner, Jordin Sparks, has a new CD in stores now. And runner-up Blake Lewis will have an album out in December. ("I'm dreaming of a beat-boxing Christmas...") Quite frankly, I can't wait for the new season to start.

In a recent episode of South Park, Cartman froze himself in an avalanche so he would sleep rather than have to wait three long weeks until the arrival of Nintendo's Wii. I wish there was something similar to help hasten the month-and-a-half until season seven. I'm sure to some of you it seems a little early to start whimpering for A.I., but with the writers' strike threatening to put the best shows into repeats, and only a handful of decent reality shows to tide me over, well... I need my Idol.

As Veruca Salt would say, "I want it NOW!"

I used to like Idol because it was typical of other FOX reality shows: an overly-sensationalized train wreck; a weekly hour of embarrassment, heartache and victory all wrapped into one. It was a cheesy talent show where I waited eagerly to see a contestant falter, and waited even more eagerly to see which lousy singers "America" would vote to keep on the show, and who would get the boot.

Now, American Idol is just the opposite. It's a premiere talent show featuring some of the best singers around. It's a legitimizer of singing ability, a bona fide item on your resume, and a ticket to stardom. Don't believe me? Just ask Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry, who both just cleaned up at this year's American Music Awards. Or Kelly Clarkson with two Grammys on her mantle.

And this year promises to be even more entertaining and talent-laden. In addition to singing, FOX announced contestants will be able to play their own instruments. I can't wait! I hope someone breaks out a ukulele.

So is it really too early to be talking about American Idol? I don't think so. Just look at all the talk shows that spend hours and hours talking about next year's presidential race -- still more than 11 months away. And we all know which contest is more important.

Where's an avalanche when you need one?

Season seven of American Idol premieres January 15th & 16th at 8/7c on FOX.

Ethan Morris: "Not always right, but never in doubt." Go ahead and write me

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