>In a recent article, folks are up in arms about the use of teleprompters on the Tues and finale American Idol shows. For those people arguing that the contestants should have been more professional and learned their lyrics, I have this to say: Walk a mile in their shoes, why don’t you?

Let’s look at this with a little less knee-jerk and try to deal with the fact that life isn’t always a neat little package of perfect, shall we?

For the two weeks prior to the finale week, the contestants were expected to pick, learn, practice and perform two songs each amidst shooting commercials, interviews, trips back home. More than likely they were also learning choreography and songs for the finale group numbers among other things like visiting makeup and wardrobe, dealing with a stage dad and oh, I dunno, maybe a brother who’s battling cancer. Need I remind you they only have one week between shows to accomplish all this?

For finale week, the two David’s were expected to learn, practice and perform three songs each along with all the other numbers they sang in groups and with legendary bands or singers. Talk about stress! I can’t imagine how frazzled they must have been and am surprised they recognized their own names!

Get real, people!