Optimistic, eh?

Despite collapsing public services and the constant threat of death, more than 2,000 young Iraqis signed up for the talent show when al-Sumeria TV announced the venture earlier this year.

Woah, they signed up to a collapsing public service under constant threat of death… amazing people, eh?

Many Iraqis already obsessively watch “American Idol”, a version of the original British “Pop Idol” franchise,

No, way, Americans copied somebody’s else’s idea and made it better?? No Fair!

OMG, did he just say that American culture is in Iraq, the land of future sharia law? LOL

Let’s see here… American Idol vs Women as dumb, quiet, and covered up…

But “Iraq Star” is a brave indigenous effort to perk up the spirits of a depressed nation.

As one soldier quoted, “If I got my information from the newspapers, I’d be depressed too”.

The studio set is spartan and drab, and there is no studio audience, though viewers are being promised tinseltown touches when the finale is held in Beirut.

Tinseltown touches… wonder if that means there will be a lot more style over substance… This guy needs to stop talking about spartan substances and drab decor, doesn’t he know that it is style over substance?

“We are trying to lighten the load and problems Iraqis are going through,” said director Wadia Nader during recording of an episode this weekend in a Baghdad hotel.

Ja, their problem is that they get most of their entertainment and education from American shows and not from Al-Jazeera Go-Kill-Americans propaganda.

“We had shows like this in the 1960s when people were discovered on television. But since then, with so many wars, Iraqis couldn’t see this kind of thing,” he added.

So how come more of these shows are poping up?

Drawing on a rich native heritage, the show takes Iraqis back to the era before Saddam Hussein and the successive traumas of war, domestic repression and international sanctions.

Hey! I wasn’t born yesterday, the WAR IS NOT OVER.

“You didn’t prepare the song well. ‘Slaughtered bird’ is masculine, but you kept saying it in the feminine!” the judge gripes like a grammar teacher.

Now why does he sound like some guy with a British accent I know…

Suicide bombs, assassinations, kidnappings, shootings by nervous soldiers in the U.S. or Iraqi army — all have become daily fare in Iraq since the invasion put an end to Saddam’s rule, which offered stability despite the oppression.

Stability… ahh, the wonderful world of stable pre-9/11.

Except when there’s a knock at the door at 3 A.M. of course.

Most Iraqi pop stars have given up or fled the country because of the security situation and threats by Islamist extremists who frown upon singing.

They “frown” upon seeing? Last time I saw, the terroists didn’t have superman’s laser vision.

Only a handful of women take part, reflecting the conservative nature of Iraq today and its Islamist-leaning government.

Ya, watching American Idol non-stop is a reflection of the conservative nature of Iraq today and its Islamist-leaning government…. or not.

Decades ago, Iraq had many famous female singers.

Ya, during the reign of Saddam where there was stability if you sang for him… or not.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the public are lapping the show up, and it has become the stuff of daily conversation.

They won’t stop watching American Idol.

If I hadn’t know better, I would have SWORE THAT THIS CAME FROM FOX NEWS.

Or not, as the case may be.