Oh. My. God.

I've been waiting to stumble upon something truly fabulous to kick off my contributions to this blog, and last week, it happened.

As I was zoning out channel surfing, I came across BBC America's "Any Dream Will Do." It's the American Idol-style search for the next star of Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat."

And all I have to say is, Oh. My. God.

To give you the slightest idea of what I mean, please look below:

Now, I must admit, I pretty much despise all Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals, especially this one, but the reality show that's based on it, well, that's just good, clean, Andrew Lloyd Weber-will-haunt-your-dreams fun! It's one of those reality T.V. programs that makes you so uncomfortable you can't bear to look away. It's full of young boys, rainbows, glitter, loincloths, show tunes, Andrew Lloyd Weber sitting on a gilded throne, and, as Linus would say, "nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see." Now, none of that would be weird (well, except for Weber and his throne) if it weren't for the utter lack of self-awareness that seems to permeate the series. The show is hosted by Graham Norton, bless his hilarious heart, who seems to be taking advantage of the situation by wearing as many technicolor dream suits as humanly possible. As lovely as the man is, even he seems to think it's completely normal that, each time a contestant is eliminated, his fellow Josephs strip him of his coat (revealing a skintight black tank top underneath) or that one of their challenges was to parade around in loincloths to "prepare" them for the many costumes of our Biblical hero.

In the end, it's not the ridiculousness of the whole operation that really gets you. It's the utter and complete childlike sincerity of the whole thing--that's what makes every corny, over-the-top rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" (no kidding--they changed the lyrics to make it sound like it was sung by a man) and "Beyond the Sea" seem like the barely tolerable screech of nails on a blackboard, regardless of how good the singer actually is. And that sincerity also happens to be what makes you feel like a horrible, no-good, dream-crushing scumbag for laughing at it.

Some things just have to be experienced to be appreciated. I give you, "The Boys are Back in Town," performed by a whole bunch of bedazzled, technicolor Josephs. At least they aren't in loincloths this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FSCYKcsTSw&feature=related

P.S. My goal this summer is to master this incredible choreography. God, I love it!