On a lighter note

I've just come off a long discussion with a colleague about the appropriate way to understand Nietzsche's notion of eternal recurrence, so it's time for a more important thought.

Is it just me or is Ace on this year's American Idol almost attractive. I guess from the way he is presented and his presence on the cover of American Idol: The Magazine--really I just saw the cover in the grocery store--that I am supposed to swoon over his exemplification of masculine pulchritude. Okay, maybe I'm not who they are aiming that at. But when I look closely at his face, I see lots of parts that might make someone attractive not quite put together correctly. The parts are fine, the gestalt is abortive. And, for my money, the guy can't sing. What he did to George Michael's "Father Figure" last week was purely criminal. He took a dirty and sensual song and turned it into something the Backstreet Boys would have thought was too bland.
On the other hand: Mandisa. I love her and can't wait until I see her singing at some gay club or circuit party. I don't see her being hugely successful, partly because big women just haven't done that well in pop music since the time of Aretha Franklin, but I definitely see her being embraced by the gay community, especially if she gets a little angrier.
Oh, for what it's worth, Nietzsche doesn't intend eternal recurrence to be a theory about the way in which the world actually operates, in case you were worried.