2009 American Idol Thread

[OscarGuy]

DWS, you've latched onto ONE part of my content and made it sound like I think it will be some homophobic backlash that keeps Adam from winning. I suggest you re-read what I said. I said "gay goth". While I think a lot of those religious nutters (going to use that terms until organized religion actually begins distancing itself from them) are going to be turned off by the gay thing which has been alluded to COUNTLESS times on the show by Cowell and others, is only one of the two words.

The other is Goth. I know a lot of people who think a Goth is a poser and someone void of interesting characteristics. I'm sure many of those nutters will vote against him just on that basis alone. After all, he has been a loner and unrepetently so for the entire show's run. I think that turns off a number of voters and not just the nutters. I've heard people talk about him and refer to the Goth thing more frequently than any rumors he's gay. So, if anything, it will be a Goth backlash that does him in b/c there has been no real confirmation he's gay other than his theater background, which isn't definitive.

And let's also be clear. I didn't say ALL of Danny's voters would flock to Kris, but let's look at this from a numbers perspective.

We know they said of 80 million, 1 mil separated first and second, so there's a 1 mil vote difference between Adam and Kris and we'll say Adam actually leads that.

Now, let's pull some random numbers based on these:

28 mil - Adam
27 mil - Kris
25 mil - Danny

Even if Danny's votes split evenly, minus the 1 mil, you'd have 39 vs 40 mil with 1 mil left over.

With these numbers, and we are led to believe the voting was fairly close in general, so the numbers could have been quite close, 1 million Danny voters is only 4% of that total. And if you think that's a lot of votes, then you'd be surprised how quickly a million can switch. So, on a 4% of Danny voters and even smaller 1.25% of total voters have to switch to swing the contest to Kris...

Hell, Kris could have been the one ahead. The numbers could be fake. There are plenty of reasons, but to completely delude yourself that a small percentage of voters, 1.25% at maximum, couldn't swing the entire results by shifting b/c of gay or goth biases, is a bit disingenuous. I know you want to think that this is a fairness-based, the right-guy-wins kind of contest, but politics play just as much a part of voting as talent does and, as we've seen in the past, talent doesn't always preclude being voted off.

Now, let me clarify something I think you have failed to take into account. I like Kris. He was one of my early favorites on the show. It took me awhile to warm up to Adam (even after my love of Ring of Fire, I didn't really think he was that great). I was also one of the ones who wanted Danny gone fairly early, so his departure leaving Kris/Adam was a godsend. Do I think Allison and Adam should have been the final two? Yes. But Kris would have been third on my list, so don't start making this sound like I'm trying to devalue Kris' victor here. I was merely stating the utter plausibility of Kris winning this contest based on a narrow minority's narrowmindedness.

And, in the end, I think Kris should win b/c he would be a perfect fit for Idol's forced-production album (much like Kelly Clarkson was) and Adam would be serviced better as runner up so he could then make more controlled decisions on his album (though, I believe the rules still require it to be produced by 19).

[flipp525]

I still think Adam's winning. I'm just glad Kris made the final two--no one else in the history of the show has made it to that point against the odds he faced. He did it on his own, without the help of the being a producer, judge, or media favorite, and deserves credit for it. And if Kris does happen to win, I think he deserves credit for winning, rather than being dismissed as someone who benefited from a homophobic backlash.

Kris really did make it there all on his own. The judges only adopted this "dark horse" mantra WRT him in the last two episodes, but his fans have always known he had that in him. I think the judges (particularly that vile twit, Kara, for some unknown reason) have thrown him under the bus whatever chance they got while ignoring the sheer average quality of several Gokey performances week after week.

Apropos of nothing, all the gays I know have been voting for him in droves, so I'm not sure what that does for the "homophobic backlash" theory.

[anonymous1980]

Top 10 performances of the season (so far):

01. Kris Allen - "Heartless"
02. Adam Lambert - "Tracks of My Tears"
03. Adam Lambert - "Mad World"
04. Alison Iraheta - "Someone To Watch Over Me"
05. Kris Allen - "She Works Hard for the Money"
06. Alison Iraheta - "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"
07. Anoop Desai - "Always On My Mind"
08. Adam Lambert & Alison Iraheta - "Slow Ride"
09. Kris Allen - "Falling Slowly"
10. Adam Lambert - "Black or White"

[dws1982]

The reasoning seems flawed--not all of Danny's fans were "religious nutters" (offensive term, but whatever), and not all of those people will automatically vote Anyone But Adam. No doubt some were the religious voters whom Danny courted. But plenty of people who were his fans liked the human interest/triumph over tragedy aspect of his story, and plenty of others are the casual types of viewers who are always attracted to the big voices. (Those may go to Adam tomorrow night.)

I also don't think it's fair to Kris to suggest that he can only win due to a homophobic backlash. The more likely backlash is due to the blatant, over the top favoritism shown towards Adam, which even the media is taking note of for once. But just as easily, Kris can win on his own merits, for being, by all backstage reports, a super-nice guy who the audience can embrace with his heartfelt renditions of the various songs, and for being not only a talented arranger, but for being a first-rate musician (he's proficient on at least four instruments).

I still think Adam's winning. I'm just glad Kris made the final two--no one else in the history of the show has made it to that point against the odds he faced. He did it on his own, without the help of the being a producer, judge, or media favorite, and deserves credit for it. And if Kris does happen to win, I think he deserves credit for winning, rather than being dismissed as someone who benefited from a homophobic backlash.



Edited By dws1982 on 1242667411

[Sonic Youth]

That's been the overall conventional wisdom.

I'm fine with whoever wins. That this is the top two is victory enough.



Edited By Sonic Youth on 1242662091

[OscarGuy]

Here's my prediction for AI's finale!

Kris wins American Idol.

Here's my reasoning. With Gokey out of the competition, his religious nutter base is going to switch in droves to the married, wholesome Kris in an effort to avoid giving the title to the rumored-gay goth kid who butchered their Johnny's Ring of Fire.

With only 1 mil votes separating the two top vote-getters, I'd say it's fairly easy for Kris to pick up more than 1 million voters than Adam from this current list to end up taking the title.

[Zahveed]

Is that you speaking from experience, cam?

How is The Rocky Horror Picture Show insulting?

I don't think Cam was referring to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and if he was, he's mistaken, as it's not a drag queen show per se.

I was actually just making a joke, since I haven't seen any derogatory use of the term in my lifetime and any cultural reference I'm aware of is from 70's film. I haven't been hitting the target lately.

[Penelope]

Oh, and as for the results tonight:

YAY!!!!!!!!

[Penelope]

Or is he just too far out for middle America? A place, obviously, that Penelope has not been for awhile...

Sweetie, I'm living practically in the heart of middle America right now (Texas). And, lest we forget, it was a middle America state (Iowa) that just gave the approval to same-sex marriage.

And I'm not denigrating drag queens, but it seemed to me that you were. Adam isn't ashamed of those photos. Nobody should be ashamed to express themselves.

[cam]

Um... welcome back, cam?

I have the operation Friday, but I am sort of up and down.
I had never heard about this particular cancer and what they have to do to get rid of it. It's called a Whipple procedure. If you want to curl your hair, google it. I am kind of numb after being fucking angry for a long time, in that medication I was taking for my heart was, apparently, toxic to the liver, pancreas, kidney etc., but it had not been considered a "major" cause before.
It's early, thank God!

And I am really getting a charge out of Idol this year. There must have been some head-scratching about giving this award to Adam, supposing he gets it. Or is he just too far out for middle America? A place, obviously, that Penelope has not been for awhile...

[OscarGuy]

Best damned news I've heard out of Idol in a very long time.

[dws1982]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Okri]

I don't watch the show (badge of honor and all), but I've gotta say, I'm rooting for Gokey to win simply because I imagine the reaction from the internet will be really funny.

[Sonic Youth]

Okay, before the stupid let's-make-everyone-sit-through-an-hour-of-show-before-we-get-to-the-key-60-seconds finals... DialIdol has been wrong all sesaon, but they're making me nervous anyway. They have a statistical three-way tie. It's anyone's guess as to who is going to be kicked out. I have no idea. (I know who I'm hoping for, but I say it every week and it doesn't happen.) Adam is ahead, followed by Kris and Danny, but it's virtually a dead heat, or so DI claims. So this'll be interesting.

Throw Danny off the show already! He should have been thrown off weeks ago. Nothing would make me happier than to see that arrogant prick drop his phony facade, curse God and renounce his faith on network television.



Edited By Sonic Youth on 1242261986

[Sonic Youth]

Um... welcome back, cam?