'Idol' chatter

OK. Not that I am one of the Cool Kids anyway (the coveted 18-34-year-old demographic), but this will forever seal my fate: I just don't get "American Idol." (Duck now from flying tomato.) The (young) woman who sits next to me (who ate the 1.5-pound hamburger last week) has a blog about it. It gets about a million hits a week. And she goes on this local radio station every Wednesday morning to talk about the show and apparently does a really good job; I wouldn't know since I'm usually asleep or, if awake, staring into a cup of coffee. And she and her editor--who is also MY EDITOR--watch it every time it's on at said editor's house. (Boss to Allison next year: "What? You don't like American Idol?! What raise?")
Mainly, I don't get a) why so many people would want to go on national television and make a fool of themselves--when they can save their money and do that in real life, like the rest of us and b) why regular people in regular living rooms all across America find it entertaining.
Then here comes this story from the AP. (File this blog post under mental imbalance.)
Is it just me, or is all this normal? Please enlighten.