TVSquad

An iPhone software developer is trying to turn the "anybody can sing" craze triggered by American Idol and America's Got Talent into an online social networking craze.

And, I admit, the more I think about that, the more terrifying it becomes. Take the first couple weeks of Idol shows with all of the bad auditions and multiply them by the endless fool factor of the Internet.

iSing (created by Island Labs and available in Apple's iTunes store), enables anyone with an iPhone or iPod touch to record a 30-second audition. Singers then publish it and watch for their recording "to climb the charts as their 'fans' vote for (or against) it in this worldwide competition for stardom" (all according to an Island Labs release). You don't win anything but "stardom," should you do well.

It's "karaoke meets talent show meets social networking" -- through an iPhone. Upon launching iSing, users are presented with a list of song entries by iSing contestants. To listen to an entry, they tap on the thumbnail picture of the contestant and use "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" buttons to vote. Users can also find entries by searching for the latest, best and worst of the current month, best and worst of all-time or by location.

The hope is singers will build their own networks based on popularity or genre and turn iSing into a Twitter-ish phenomena. Of course, someone at Island Labs has to listen to each audition and check it for appropriateness for mass consumption.

And, thus, we have today's nomination for "worst job imaginable."