australian idol eat your heart out

Tonight was the Australian Idol grand finale... and I missed the whole thing.

I've watched every night of the final series, but tonight I was at a hen's night. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time, but it was a tough call to give up Idol for the sake of friendship, love, camaraderie and initiation into marriagehood! I mean, they're both so important.

My dilemma this week, apart from deciding whether I could possibly miss the big event, has been this - Damien or Jess? He sings fantastically, she's sweet and gorgeous and lovely and sings OK too! In the end I voted (cringe - I'm embarrassed to admit to the world that I voted on Idol) for Damien - his version of the fairy floss single was streets ahead of hers. (Who writes those winner songs?)

As I drove home from tonight's hen's night I was singing along to a favourite cassette tape that hasn't yet been chewed (don't laugh - my car was made before CDs were invented!) and I wondered if I could ever make it on Idol.

Every year I dream of auditioning. Every year I tell myself I'm too old. And probably don't sing well enough - there's a vast difference between holding a tune and captivating an audience, or singing at church and recording a CD! But let's just imagine that I could sing well enough. That I wowed the judges with my touching and masterful audition. That Australia loved me and voted me into the top twelve, that I was standing on the stage of the Sydney Opera House waiting for the big pronouncement...

... and there I stopped.

I have absolutely no interest in becoming the kind of person who could win Australian Idol. I don't want fame. Fortune might entertain me for a moment - but not at the cost of selling my soul. I like being me*. I like living here with my husband. I like hanging out with friend's at a hen's night in the suburbs. I value my life just as it is. It might appear typical or common, but it's mine, it's what God's given me and I'm thankful. So thankful.

So I won't be auditioning for Australian Idol next year. I might even manage to crush my audition dreams!

I'll be living my wonderful, common, blessed life, cherishing the riches I have and basking in the love I share with Frank. Beat that Australian Idol!

*I also like Damien because he seems to have walked the line between selling his soul for the all important Idol image and remaining true to himself.