Lottery catches the ‘Idol’ craze
By Mark Franklin
The start of season seven of “American Idol'’ is just a week away.
But for those who just can’t wait for Idol 2008 … well, you could always make a run to the Colonial Park Mall in Harrisburg Saturday afternoon.
Believe it or not, the Pennsylvania State Lottery is joining in the Idol craze.
The lottery is unveiling an “American Idol” instant game this month. And it’s launching the endeavor with karaoke events at seven shopping malls over the next three weekends.
The closest to York is the one running from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Colonial Park Mall.
The first 50 visitors get a free $5 “American Idol” scratch-off ticket … as long as they sing.
Hey, if that’s not enough of an enticement, those who stop by the booth can also have their photo taken with a cardboard cutout of Gus, the lottery’s mascot, typically touted as the second most popular groundhog in Pennsylvania.
Personally, I think I’ll skip the event. It’s going to take a lot more than $5 in gas to get to Harrisburg and back. And the only place I sing is in a car (when I’m alone) or behind closed doors. Yeah, that bad.
As for the game, I wince at forking over more than $1 for any type of lottery ticket.
But, hey, best of luck to those who play. Accumulate three losing tickets — yikes, that’s $15 worth — and you can enter a second-chance drawing where 10 lucky individuals will win a trip for two to the “American Idol'’ finale.
And best of luck to the lottery folks. When you’re competing against Pennsylvania’s spanking new slots parlors, I guess you need new gimmicks.
As for the real Idol, yeah, I’ll be watching Tuesday. The audition shows quickly grow tiresome. But watching the competition between the final 12 is one of my guilty pleasures.