PBS: The Vast Wasteland

PBS is airing a pledge break special called "Celtic Woman," which was on in the background while I did other things. It features the two kinds of "Celtic" music the suburbanites who actually make pledges to PBS love: the "Riverdance" variety and the Enya-new age variety. With some popular standards and a few new songs.

What amazes me is that these young ladies got a tv show at all. Yes, they're good, every bit as good as the girl who sang that solo in church last week. But frankly, I don't know if I'd cast any of them for the lead in the high school production of Oklahoma. The voices, while on pitch, did not project. There was an airy quality throughout the production.

The past decade has seen a rise in popularity of Celtic music. But now the attitude seems to be that if it's from Ireland, it must be good. Somebody please tell PBS that an hour's worth of Brittany Spears videos is a lot better quality than many of their pledge-drive specials.