"Idol"-izing

I didn't want to get sucked in. But I did, once again. Yes, I've been watching the third season of Fox's American Idol. I haven't yet got Maria on board -- she's still not sold on getting back into the old "AI" habit. But trust me. She'll come around.

The performers aren't quite up to the level of the show's first two seasons. And I'm gonna slap Ryan Seacrest if he keeps trying to shove his new signature sign-off -- "Seacrest... OUT!" -- down our throats. But the show has still got its simple, pleasant, addictive quality. No outlandish twists here. No back-stabbing, double-crossing contestants trying to win $1 million. Just a cynic-free (I know, shocking!) talent contest, the kind of thing that harkens back to the early days of TV.

Now that the show has officially found its 12 finalists, Fox threw an "Idol" party Wednesday night at Pearl -- the club formerly known as Dorscia, which was formerly known as Moomba, which was formerly known as Luna Park -- in West Hollywood.

Judge Simon Cowell, "Idol" finalists, Fox execs and others showed up. Also in attendance: Cast members from "That '70s Show," new drama "Wonderfalls" and the best show you're not watching (and by the way, you better start watching, or I'm not gonna listen the next time you whine about how TV sucks), "Arrested Development."

I also spotted a cameraman from the Fox station in Honolulu. This year's "American Idol" has two finalists from Hawaii. You have no idea how big that is inside the state. Karaoke was big in Hawaii loooong before you ever heard of it here on the mainland. Hell, when I was a kid even the neighborhood McDonald's boasted a karaoke machine. Local singers become statewide stars. So these two girls, now that they're getting national attention, are superstars.

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Meanwhile, the person I was most excited to meet Wednesday night wasn't even from "Idol" or any other Fox show. Nope. I was thrilled to finally meet Fred Bronson, the man who writes "Chart Beat" for Billboard magazine. As a huge chart aficionado from childhood on (not only did I track the Billboard Hot 100, I created my own Top 40 chart, where I ranked my top songs of the week for years), to meet Bronson and talk about the Billboard charts was too cool.

I told Bronson, who also writes "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits," that my enthusiasm for the Hot 100 chart waned after its methodology changed. Indeed, you look at the chart now, and it doesn't tell you much of anything -- some of the songs are country, others are hardcore hiphop, some get no radio airplay whatsoever, and plenty others aren't available as commercially released singles. It's kind of a mess, in my opinion, and doesn't reflect what could be considered the hottest songs in the country. (Even "American Top 40," which once relied on the Hot 100 for its chart, no longer does.) Fred assured me that it's a common complaint, and that tweaks may be on the way.