American Idle.

Am I the only one who thinks the talent pool on American Idol is a little weak?

In the year I spent reporting Pitch Perfect, I traveled to colleges across the country. And, yes, I was subjected to some lackluster collegiate a cappella—the kind that makes headlines, apparently. Last year, the snarky blog IvyGate conducted a search for the worst a cappella group in the Ivy League, ultimately crowning the UPENN Chord on Blues the winner. (Link here.) I saw the Chords perform live. Bless their hearts, but I have to say, the IvyGate readers may have gotten it right. Not that it matters. Those Chord on Blues were having more fun on stage that just about any group I saw all year. Which is really the point, isn't it?

ANYWHO...

Every once in awhile you come across a couple of collegiate a cappella singers who would embarrass David Archuleta and the kids from American Idol. Yeah. I said it.

And so: American Idle will become a running rubric here on the blog. In this corner we'll pit Idol performances against a cappella groups singing the same songs. In this first edition, we present American Idol Elliott Yamin and Mary J. Blige singing U2's "One" vs. the UVA Hullabahoos featuring Patrick Lundquist and Brendon Mason. Feel free to judge for yourself. Though, with all due respect—one love, Mary J—you know which one we prefer.








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(PS--I copied the Idle graphic above from a blog called Sportspastor. I have no idea where they got it from, but it saved me some photoshop time, which I appreciate.)