Who would've thought that America's premiere sporting event would involve no balls, bats, helmets or sticks, and require no more physical exertion than it takes to belt out a pop song over amplified backup?
Yet every week, television audiences from Maine to Malibu tune in to American Idol to watch young singers locked in gladiatorial combat. And no less than the displays of strength and cunning that took center stage in the Roman Colosseum, these televised singathons have all the punch and ferocity of an athletic competition.
Just ask La Toya London, the 25-year-old Oakland native who advanced this week to the next round of Fox's vocal showdown, becoming one of 10 finalists to survive the winnowing process so far.
In the miniature biographical profile that aired Tuesday night, London put the issue succinctly. "Being an athlete when I was younger and growing up, it definitely helped me now as far as competing," she said, "because I take it seriously."
London grew up singing in Bay Area groups, including the Oakland Youth Chorus and the choir at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland. Now residing in Los Angeles, she's hoping for a career as a pop singer.
But to do that -- at least by the "American Idol" route -- has meant undergoing the kind of public audition process that more often takes place behind closed doors. It has meant exposing not only her vocal ability but her entire stage persona to the often withering critiques of the program's judges (although so far even the famously vitriolic Simon Cowell has been won over by her charisma and talent, which seem fairly undeniable).
Most of all, it has meant trying to outsing, outdance and generally outrazzle-dazzle her opponents.
Yes, singing is now a competitive sport. And why should it be otherwise?
For as long people have been raising their voices, or indeed making art of any kind, there's always been an element of competition in the process. It's not enough -- it's never been enough -- merely to make joyous or sorrowful sounds; those with enough talent and self-confidence to do it well want to be recognized and hailed by those around them for their accomplishments.
The ancients, always well attuned to the most basic tenets of human nature, recognized this imperative.
The tragedies and comedies of ancient Athens that we cherish today weren't produced by some kind of Periclean off-Broadway consortium. They were presented as part of an annual contest in which the year's best plays were acclaimed by the population at large. The glory was enormous, the competition fierce.
Cultural competition has rarely played so central a civic role since then, largely because culture itself has rarely been as integral to a society as it was in the Athens of the fifth century B.C.
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