I'm ready for my close-up...

Try to imagine American Idol without the close-up shot... It doesn't really work, does it? The close-up is used to show emotion, and the makers of American Idol take full advantage of this. For example, on last night's episode, they showed a young man whose parents had been ashamed of his singing talent. Earlier, when he made it "to Hollywood," he had called his mom to tell her. On this episode, he made it past the first audition, and naturally, the producers of the show wanted the viewers to witness his phone call to his mom. The camera zoomed in nice and close so that we could see the emotion brimming in his eyes--the look of relief on his face when his mom said she was proud of him. It was a scene designed to tug on the hearts of the viewers. I'm pretty sure the tugging on our heartstrings would've been significantly less forceful, had the shot not been so up close and personal. Also, at both the beginning and the end of the show, they used close-up shots to highlight the anxiety of the contestants. Actually, for most of the show, I found myself uncomfortable close to someone's face. They want the viewers to feel the sadness or frustation or disappointment, or joy that the participants feel, whether they move on or get cut.