Real ‘American Idols’
For some time now, one of today’s most beloved television shows is ‘American Idol’. Over seven years, it has maintained its popularity and this year’s production is just about ready to announce the 2008 American Idol. Similarly to the Miss America, Miss USA and the Miss World contests, there will be tears of joy by the winner and tears of despair by the many losers and also-rans. The winner and even some runner-ups will make tons of money in selling their singsongs to America’s youth. The entire program is programmed rather interestingly in that the three judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Brit Simon Cowell have been able to keep the show lively with their comments and criticisms. The six winners to date are Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks and Jordin Sparks. They all have become successful recording artists, more or less.
But this is not what this article is all about. In fact, we are starting a new chapter here at Common Sense Authors where we like to focus on who we consider real American Idols. We are talking about persons who have maintained their skills and reputations by remaining successful achievers over a great number of years. And yet their successes have not altered their basic personalities or their demeanors. Success has not spoiled them. Our criteria for being such an ‘Idol’ was grounded in their character, achievements, attitudes and consistency over a long period of time, not just for a year or two. They all have lived exemplary lives, in public as well as in private. They all have maintained public personas free of scandal and hype. And while we could have come up with a longer list had we included individuals who have passed away, we felt it necessary to differentiate with the annual American Idol show winners and therefore selected only living Idols as we see them.
We intentionally limited our list to just three individuals but we will add to this list in the future. Our Real American Idols in alphabetical order are:
- Bill Gates
- David Petraeus
- Tiger Woods
An entrepreneur/businessman, a Military Leader/Four-Star General and a professional golfer/Number One in his sport, all three supremely successful in their respective fields, good family men and men with character, discipline, generosity and yet humble in their demeanor and appearance. These three individuals are being idolized by millions and we have to say, rightfully so. This is especially true for Tiger Woods since he has great television exposure on about 15 to 20 weekends in any given year. He has turned hundreds of thousands if not millions of youngsters into golfing fans and has shown them in his demeanor that excellence can be achieved by many individuals, but only through hard work and consistency and with a great deal of integrity.
Bill Gates’s lifetime achievements are very well known and the world is using his software programs on a daily basis. Many others have emulated him for nearly thirty years, many of them successfully. He has been for many years the richest man on the planet and yet he has maintained his humble personality throughout the years. He has been seen at various places taking his wife and children to the movies or amusement parks such as Legoland in Carlsbad etc. Yet after all his successes Gates is still working on new inventions when it comes to information and especially communication technology while at the same time being strongly involved with his wife Melinda to improve lives of millions of people in many countries around the world by giving generously to causes from fighting starvation, diseases and life improvement projects.
General David Petraeus is a man of exceptionable character and strength. He dedicated his life to serving his country in the military, after graduating from West Point in 1974 he has moved up through the ranks over more than thirty years, he is married and he and his wife of 33 years have two grown children. He is currently commander of the multi-national forces in Iraq and has very successfully executed a military turn-around by implementing a counterinsurgency strategy he had developed a few years ago. He is unflappable in the face of criticism whether warranted or not and has shown his strength during televised hearings in Congress last September and again a week ago.
It is very easy to find out more about these three gentlemen by way of search engines or other means. To us here, they are Class Acts and therefore Real American Idols!