The Youth of Today

Last night I was chatting to a young lady, and as is the wont of young - and not so young - ladies in recent weeks, the conversation turned to Australian Idol.

I think a small bit of background is in order here. I think everyone reading this should know the Idol format by now - if not, where have you been? In a cave, on Mars, with your fingers in your ears? The season in Australia is almost finished, last night it was down to 2 participants, including an Irish Man: Damien Leith. Having heard of this young Co. Kildare man, I investigated the show and to be fair he does have a great voice, but I digress.

"Do you know Australian idol?", my new friend asked, "Do you know there's an Irish guy on it? Everytime I see you I'm reminded of him!"

"Really?" I replied, slighly chuffed.

"Yeh! I hate him!" she responded enthusiastically.

"I much prefer Dean," she continued, "He's good looking."

"Wow, you're a charmer, aren't you?" was my best retort.

We argued the relative virtues of singing talent vs good teeth, and pretty (nancy boy) hair for a while, before we were joined and I quickly changed the subject to avoid people knowing that I was arguing with a teenager about Australian Idol.

"On the subject of Irish performers," I said, "Did you see that Bono joined Kylie on stage at her concert last night?"

"Bono?" she asked, "That guy from U2?...Is he Irish?"

Sigh. The youth of today.

...

Here, have a listen to Mr Leith's rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying":