REACHING FOR THOSE high notes

Before the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences worked out a deal with the striking Writers Guild, the Grammy Awards sat in a really interesting limbo. More intriguing than a looming picket line was the chance that the annual schmoozefest, minus longtime producer Ken Ehrlich and writer David Wild (both WGA members), would drift toward improvisation. With no script and no slick staging, this classic pseudo-event might have been forced to get real.

But any "American Idol" watcher knows that in pop, as in all things, the nature of reality is currently up for grabs. The powerhouses slotted to perform in tonight's 8 p.m. ceremony at Staples Center -- among them Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Beyonce and Mary J. Blige -- are obviously in a different league than the "Idol" hopefuls.

But given one song to nail, as in a singing contest or an awards show, they all do basically the same thing. They reach for the high notes, show off their lung capacity and bleed the drama from whatever lyric they're interpreting.

The parade of amateurs mimicking greatness on "Idol" and other contests can numb a viewer to genuinely stellar performances. And then there's the endless array of benefit concerts, tributes to legends, soundstage sets, Web broadcasts and talk-show spots that bring live music to our screens, plus all those three-initial award shows, the VMAs, the CMTs, the BETs and so forth.

Seal, once a Grammy breakthrough artist, recently lent his supple tenor to "Seal on Ice," a skating extravaganza televised on NBC. Kelly Clarkson spent her summer singing at televised NASCAR rallies. "One-time-only" musical events occur so often that gala tramps such as Beyonce have made second careers out of attending them.

Not so long ago, award shows offered a rare chance to see celebrities loosen their fancy coifs a bit, playing a fun role -- themselves -- on the red carpet and onstage. But our common culture has become so celebrity-soaked that even the most elusive stars can hardly raise a thrill.

Stars' desire to be seen and fans' hunger for access have intertwined in a horrible cycle of codependence; staged appearances can't satisfy once everyone's become hooked on paparazzo shots of bared body parts and frayed emotions.

Consider Amy Winehouse. The most talked-about of this year's nominees was a rising art-house star, not unlike her fellow best new artist nominee Feist, before drug use and deep insecurity turned her into a notorious disaster.