They're Playing My Song (I Wish)

I heard some really disappointing news this morning on the radio. The last few years, American Idol has held a songwriting competition. Near the end of every season, song writers are invited to submit songs that will be considered for the finale. You know the song, the one that the winner sings after he or she wins. This is the first song that they actually get to record. Last year, for David Cook, it was "The Time of My Life". I don't remember many of the others. Kelly Clarkson's was "A Moment Like This", but I only remember that because I still listen to that CD while I run. Taylor Hicks's song was "Do I Make You Proud?" which was not a submission, but written for him by professional writers. I actually liked the song, but most people didn't, especially after Weird Al Yankovich fashioned a rip-off copy entitled "Do I Creep You Out?"

Anyway, this year, they have decided to let the new judge Kara DioGuardi write the song. Now don't get me wrong, she is a really good songwriter and she has written hit songs for everyone from Kelly Clarkson to Ashley Simpson to Faith Hill. But I had already written half my song! I was determined to win this year. Two years ago, I wrote and recorded a pretty decent song called "The Journey is the Prize". I sang and played the piano and recorded it on my computer. (This says a lot about the quality of the recording, doesn't it?) Factor that in with the kids running in and out yelling, and the dog barking in the background, and..well, you get the picture.

But honestly, and I am embarrassed to admit this...I actually thought I had a shot. The lyrics were compelling, the melody was catchy...all in all, deep down, I thought I could be the winner. There were to be 10 finalists, and then America would listen to all of them and vote. Ryan Seacrest said that there were almost 25,000 submissions, but even this didn't detour me. Now if you follow this blog, you know I am prone to overly-optimistic, sometimes bordering- on-fantasy daydreams. But even my cynical husband kept saying I had a chance. I remember we went out to dinner with some friends and he told them I had submitted a song. Of course, I was mortified! I didn't know them well, and here he was telling them that I had entered a song in the American Idol songwriting contest. All I could think of was that if I possibly lost, they would be in front of their TV laughing and saying "Remember the girl that actually sent in a song?...What a loser!" But actually, they were very nice and encouraging and seemed to appreciate the fact that I had even tried.

The day the top 10 were announced, my heart was beating wildly as I logged on to view the list. When my name wasn't there, I sort of cried. I called my husband, and I still remember he said "I'll bet yours was the 11th song..." Well , that's what husbands are for, right?


So this year, I started on my song early. I will even go so far to say that I pre-wrote my morning blog a couple of mornings so I could dedicate more time to my songwriting. (Sorry, I know that is cheating...but I only give myself so much creative free time...) Since I am betting that the final 4 on Idol will be Adam, Allison, Chris and Danny, I made sure that I could "hear" them all singing the song...Oh well. I won't give away the title, because who knows, maybe they will have another competition next year. Meantime, maybe I will submit the song to Keith Urban or Carrie Underwood or....well, you get the idea. In my optimistic daydream, they pay me a fortune for my song and insist that I appear with them on some award show to sing it. This also leads to the daydream where I get a famous designer to design a fabulous dress for the occasion...black halter with a deep dip in the back...but I have now gone down the crazy road, and need to get to work...

So until tomorrow, when I promise not to pre-write the blog...