The ever-popular TV talent-search series American Idol has found another way to milk its appeal and is now making soup.

Not literally, of course, because Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul is just another book in the uplifting Chicken Soup series. Though this edition is about a reality TV series it seems too tightly entwined with the fantasies of American Idol to be totally believable.

Idols Have Their Say

First season finalist Jim Verraros’s The Impossible Dream is both memorable and touching. He writes about his parents and the sad fact that they’ll never hear him sing.

“I wouldn’t trade them for all the hearing parents in the world, but sometimes I dream that one day, by some miracle, I could pick up the phone and say ‘I love you’ without an interpreter in the middle,” he writes.

Speaking like a character out of a Disney production, Verraros is still optimistic, however, because “impossible things happen every day”.

What’s interesting about the book is that, like American Idol itself, the show doesn’t belong only to the budding celeb contestants, but the production crew and fans as well.

I’m Stylin’ Now by Miles Siggins , a stylist on the show, showed the indispensable part played by the backstage crew in making American Idol a success. He jokes about how the “Wrath of Simon” ensured that contestants took the stylist’s advice about what looked good on them and what didn’t.

The fans also contributed some excellent stories. Nicole Merchut, for example, revealed how Katharine McPhee openly speaking of her five-year battle with bulimia in 2006 had inspired her to face up to her own struggle.

Idol fan Lexie Matthews wrote in The Turn of a Page of how Clay Aiken’s account of his own experience with an abusive father in his autobiography gave her the courage to leave her abusive husband and start a new life with her daughter.

Too Many Proud Cooks Spoil The Broth

Unfortunately, not every story in the book made UrbanWire smile or go all warm and fuzzy inside. Some are so narcissistic and self-absorbed that they drew disapproving frowns instead.

A finalist from season two, Carmen Rasmusen penned Thousands Shouting My Name, which left a distinct bitter aftertaste with her conceited whining about how she bad she felt when she got cut from the show.

Words like, “I couldn’t stand it – whenever I heard the music, I felt like I was supposed to be on the show. So I would walk out and go sulk in my room”, were ample proof of her vanity and poor sportsmanship. And you can’t even blame it on inexperience, since she published her biography Staying in Tune late last year.

Other stories raised UrbanWire’s eyebrows with disbelief. In Making a Difference, sweet second runner-up of Season three, Jasmine Trias’s account of how her voice woke a coma patient who mistook her for an angel was too full of self-praise to be believable.

The worst part is, she wasn’t the only Idol whose ego this book seemed to advance. Carmen’s contemporary Kimberly Locke , for example, also wrote about how everyone she knew believed that she was suitable for the competition because she was just that good.

The Verdict

To be fair, Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul has its share of good and bad; some stories invoke tears while some are just plain unbelievable. But what’s praiseworthy is that the voices of everyone involved in this highly successful TV series has an equal standing; from the Idols to the dedicated backstage crew, to the fans.

Like every other Chicken Soup book, Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul is an overall good read. But unlike the previous instalments in the series, it doesn’t have the trademark down-to-earth feel that made the other books so memorable and inspiring.

UrbanWire recommends Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul for rabid American Idol fans and bored souls, but no one else.

UrbanWire gives Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul 2 out of 5 stars.

Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul is available at major bookstores at $23.93 (GST included).