To the obvious dismay of American Idol judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, last week the show's viewers voted out Sundance Head and Sabrina Sloan. The three judges made it known that in their opinion, these two Idol contestants should have made it into the Top Twelve. Instead, two of their less talented rivals, Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato, were voted through to the next round.
Simon Cowell was the most vocal of the three judges in expressing his displeasure with the voting. He even went so far as say he'd not be a part of American Idol next year if Sanjaya Malakar were to actually win the singing competition this year. Puh-lease.
First of all, American Idol is nine parts reality show and one part singing competition. It's a show that is as well known for bizarre voting results as it is for finding and nurturing singing talent. Secondly, it's a fact that some of the past Idol winners (Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, for starters) have gone on to become successful artists. However, coming in first is not a make-or-break situation, as many of the Idol contestants who didn't "win" the signing competition have also enjoyed success in the recording industry.
In light of that, does it really make sense for Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul to care who goes and who stays at this point? As appointed "judges," these three are responsible for picking the twenty-four aspiring singers that they feel have the most potential. After that, the AI producers have agreed to let the viewers of this reality TV show decide who should be the American Idol winner.
The AI producers could have given the judges and/or recording industry professionals more power to decide who ultimately becomes the Idol winner, but they didn't. When you put the power into the hands of the public, you have to expect the unexpected. You have to be okay with the "anything goes" reality of a reality TV show.
However, it appears that predicting who might actually be crowned this season's American Idol could be next to impossible. Like previous years, the viewer voting makes little sense, unless people are actually voting for the worst contestant at the suggestion of Votefortheworst.com. This website rallies behind the one contestant the American Idol producers and the general public would most like to see eliminated, asking people to vote for him or her as many times as possible.
If their pick-of-the-week does get ousted, VFTW simply moves on to the next least-desirable winner. Their current poster boy is—you guessed it—Sanjaya Malakar. Is VFTW responsible for getting this young, inexperienced vocalist into the Top Twelve? Who knows.
VFTW insists that championing the fish out of water makes for more entertaining television, and indeed it does. But if Votefortheworst really is swaying the voting in favor of less talented singers, it sabotages the competition aspect of the show and makes American Idol rather pointless for anything other than cheesy entertainment. Then again, it is a reality TV show, isn't it?
Julia Williams - A freelance marketing writer for catalogs, websites and businesses of every size, Julia also likes to pen poetry, blogs and screenplays. ...
