Taking a break from charging audiences $175 a ticket to hear 30-year old songs and appearing on overrated American sitcoms, Elton John is here to save us from ourselves:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - British Rock star Elton John, a guest judge this month on the U.S. talent hunt TV series "American Idol," said on Tuesday that he found the voting by the national viewing audience "incredibly racist."
John, who heard the wannabe pop stars perform his songs during an appearance on the FOX TV show, added his voice to a chorus of dissent that followed last week's shock exit of black vocalist Jennifer Hudson, considered one of the top talents among those vying for a recording contract.
I don't watch American Idol, but even I heard the howls of indignation after last week's vote that put three of the more talented (black, female) contestants "in danger" and booted (black, female) favorite Jennifer Hudson. Theories abound - from a power outage in the Chicago area (Hudson's hometown) that prevented friends and family from voting - to assumptions by fans of the "good" contestants that they would easily make the final round. Meanwhile, the (apparently) embarrassingly bad red-headed white guy continues to hang on.
Jesus, people...American Idol has been subjecting us to these karaoke bar rejects for three years now. Is it at all possible the talent pool has finally gotten a little diluted? Or here's a thought, maybe - in an unprecedented bid to keep ratings up - Fox execs engineered a little "controversy" to get people watching again.
It certainly got "Sir Elton's" dander up:
"The three people I was really impressed with, and they just happened to be black, young female singers, and they all seem to be landing in the bottom three," said John, commenting on the tally in which the lowest vote-getter is eliminated.
"They have great voices. The fact that they're constantly in the bottom three -- and I don't want to set myself up here -- but I find it incredibly racist," John said at a news conference promoting his Radio City Music Hall concert...
The show often gets more than 20 million people voting.
Yeah, well, there's your problem. Let's not forget Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." This may get a little circular, but the issue here is that the kind of people who would actually vote on a show like American Idol...vote on American Idol. How many voters on this show are teenaged girls (I'm going to go out on a limb and say, "a shitload")? Could the fact that one of the only remaining contestants is a teenaged boy have anything to do with it?
In a country where even the chronically spastic or borderlne retarded can get a recording contract, anything's possible.
The results moved show host Ryan Seacrest to remind viewers that the series was a talent hunt and not a popularity contest.
"America, don't forget you have to vote for the talent," Seacrest said before closing the show. "You cannot let talent like this slip through the cracks."
You tell 'em, Ryan. I think I speak for everyone when I say that a world deprived of From Justin to Kelly or Ruben Studdard's cameo on Scooby Doo 2 would be a dark place indeed.
UPDATE: Red-headed dude was voted off last night. Everyone can relax now and go back to preparing for ritual hara-kiri after the last episode of Friends.
Sinclair to Preempt `Nightline' on ABC Stations, Cites Politics Long as I'm in a blustery, politicky mood -- let me......
| --Posted to The Fat Guy on Apr 29, 2004 8:09 PM:. |
I don't officially watch the show. Having said that, the red-headed kid is absoutely awful. He's got a style, I guess. But I would be surprised if he is on pitch for half the notes he tries to sing.
Terrible stuff.
Then again, Tarentino was cool.