Idol shock as humiliated fan dies of overdose

This is so sad - I don't agree with shows like American Idol at all.

I consider American Idol a programme worth cancelling.

in many countries there is  movement away from bullying, which is what this is.

Yet it may be brutal and be on comprehension and still so very popular with the public and the contestant. Maybe a little masochistic human nature.

I agree with Jarrett this is a tremendously sad story; reading further in the details of the incident, the victim seemed to have wanted the world to be shocked in the way that the event unfolded.  Many contestants have turned their negative fame into a profitable one despite their rejection.. one thing is for sure: fame is a strange bedfellow and not for everyone.

Thanks for the report.  It is a sad commentary on reality TV

I feel bad for this woman on a couple of fronts. That she was unstable enough to be so vulnerable is sad. It's sadder still that someone with such a shaky foundation should be Pearl Harbored in front of someone she idolized. Man, she must have felt like crap.

On the bright side, I am sure that some "reality" show wannabe producer is working on some other idiotic concept, perhaps one that involves tire irons to the knee caps of media jerks. Being a fan of karma and irony I'd be sure to catch at least one episode.

well reported

These shows are the equivalent of Roman coliseums and gladiators. It seems that culturally, the world has regressed. In parts of Asia, horse fighting is becoming bigger.

Pain,fear, humiliation, and even death, with promise of some payback for someone. That's all it takes to keep the masses occupied in times of turmoil. The Romans knew this--give them bread and circuses.

Thanks for this story, generaldecay. Let us hope that "Ms Goodspeed’s death gives the makers of Idol, America’s most popular TV show, serious pause for thought regarding the treatment of the thousands of unsuccessful contestants kicked off the programme each year."

Why is it that some people have to take things so seriously?

While this is sad, I don't think anyone is to blame (Except perhaps the puerile cult of celebrity and it's concomitant adoration and ass-kissing, and the urban myth that any talentless moron can be famous and get easy money and an easy life if they can just get an opportunity!), certainly not the producers, who are merely satisfying our sadistic/masochistic schadenfreude, not the presenters, who are merely commenting on her realistic chances of becoming a star regardless of what disillusioned ideas she has about her talents, inculcated by the silly idea that we can't tell anyone the truth that they can't do something because we don't want to hurt their feelings.

The comment about the braces was a little mean, but if you can't take someone being a little mean, you shouldn't be in show business anyway.

Awful story. These shows are just cruelty in motion.