In which America prepares for the Idol created for it in a lab in Kenosha, WI

[jlh]

Okay, I'm sick, and this is going to be a tricky entry to write, but I'm so tired of pulling my punches about shit like this and I'm just kinda not in the mood. I will say, that idea of having people call into the results show is going to make it even more painful to watch than it already is. I hate call in shows, and it's only going to irritate Simon.

Speaking of Simon, he was in rare form last night, wasn't he? He was so uninterested in any of the people who left he could barely bring himself to stay in his seat during their singouts.

I'd said before I even saw the performances that on the girls' side Asia'h and one of the blondes were going, mostly because no one was connecting with any of the three of them. I don't know if Katie Lee is really going to last past Beatles week or the week after and make it on the tour (I bet that's why she said she was fine with being 10th, which was a stupid thing to say) because she hasn't done anything to make me care about her, but we'll see about that.

I think everyone knew that Luke would be out, because he continued to suck and has really bizarre stagecraft.

In the beginning of the year in my class I always make a statement about conspiracy theories, in which I note that if the Mafia can't keep people quiet, no one can. So I'm always a little suspicious—conspiracy theories suggest that life is rational, and controlled, rather than random and unexpected. But even more importantly, if the producers fixed American Idol they'd be committing fraud, and I doubt any of them are willing to go to jail over some contestant.

As for Nigel, have you seen So You Think You Can Dance? Do you really think he cares about putting gay people on television? Have you heard what he has to say about Ryan and Simon? (Oh, wait, you don't, since you keep telling me how much you don't care about Rymon—well, let's just say he ships them and leave it at at that.) Nigel basically wants to make money by having a high-rated TV show, and that's sort of it. The kind of lies that Idol tends to tell are exaggerations, like saying that EMI has released the Beatles catalog to them because of the level of talent this year, when it's really that EMI is broke and is releasing the catalog to anyone willing to pay the new reduced rates for it.

Given the reaction that Jacob was having to Danny in his recaps on TWOP, I think what might have happened in the wake of David Hernandez's stripping revelations is that the gay vote moved over to him and away from Danny. It's happened before—when Mandisa's connections to an anti-gay minister came out in the Advocate, she was gone the next week, because a diva needs her gays. Meanwhile the tiny girls-and-grandmothers vote was with David Achuleta. (Chikezie, of course, got the entire black people vote, a group of people who know that he sang a Luther Vandross song, thank you very much Simon, and if I'd been thinking I would have realized when they were the final two that Danny was out.)

Now, I'm not saying I wasn't really surprised—Ali and I shouted when Ryan made the announcement, and there's a reason they left it until last. And those of you who are fans, seriously, I feel your pain; we've all had favorites leave at the semis. I still miss Alexandrea, and I felt horrid for poor Leslie last year.

All that said, what I find most interesting is that as rarely happens on Idol there's only one real diva, Ramiele, in a sea of rock/pop singers. And on the boys side, well, things have been fairly white in the past, but I'm not sure we've had this much rock before. Can any of them stop David Achuleta? Won't it be interesting to watch them try?

Comments

[dreamerren.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Just...thank you for this post.

*hugs*

[akari-hayashi.livejournal.com]

I love your post. Word to every single thing, down to the full stop. And ooh, I'm a tiny girl! XD

[lillijulianne.livejournal.com]

i think every word you say makes perfect sense, i really do.

to the extent that homophobia affected danny in any way it was passive- we can certainly assume homophobes did not vote for him, for reasons other than what they thought of his talent as a singer and performer. and i do think there's a level on which that's an interesting micro-issue, in that clay sure has homophobic fans, as do other people on idol who may or may not be gay, but they can fool themselves, and that ain't an option with danny.

but no, i don't believe tptb kicked him off. (i still believe they didn't want undeniable cake pda, any more than they want rymon to kiss or something. but that's a different question from the one of allowing gay people on television.)

[honestys-easy.livejournal.com]

As for Nigel, have you seen So You Think You Can Dance? Do you really think he cares about putting gay people on television?
Danny Tidwell says no, and shakes his neck just for good measure. :D

I didn't watch the elimination show because as I've said they don't thrill me unless I'm watching for Cake, but I highly doubt that the Idol machine "rigged" the semis so that Danny would be eliminated. People all over the forums right now are hating on Chekezie, and although I'm not a fan of his, he's gotten considerably better vocally in the past two weeks, and Danny...hasn't. He's relied on his camp ways and his attitude (some people are saying is just an act) and the fandom vote, and it just didn't come through for him. It's true Idol wasn't necessarily pimping him like Baby David a.k.a. the Second Coming, but they weren't setting him up to fail, either.

And as far as I've heard, Idol is not "rigged" or anything; sure, perhaps the voting pools are biased because of AT&T hubs and whatnot, but they're not throwing out votes or disregarding winning contestants. My college roommate's aunt is a VP at BMG music, iirc, and manages the music of the winner of American Idol each year (and at times like Season 2, handles the runner-up as well). Last year I had dinner with my friend right before the finale and she said her aunt's office was freaking out over the prospect of Blake winning, because they had absolutely no idea how to market him as an artist. (Which is an interesting observation about Blake itself.) So from that perspective, I've discovered that it is indeed not a fixed competition.

That being said, I still am surprised that the fandom vote didn't come through for him, and I would have preferred him in the Top 12 instead of Michael Johns. He's more interesting to watch, definitely.

Is it really going to be Beatles week next week? Because my GOD, I've been waiting seven years for a Beatles theme week, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. You're going to see me be a bouncy ball of squee next Tuesday, I swear.

[zorb]

Are people really saying...? Sigh. Of course they are. Whatever. It was hardly an unjust elimination - everyone left has been singing better then he has. Funny how we suspect conspiracy when things go down how they should in an ideal world.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I so totally agree. I remember arguing on the SYTYCD board, trying to explain to people just how big of a deal rigging a game show is and how it therefore does not happen. But then they just had a weird claim that these are 'reality shows' so they're in the category where they're totally allowed to rig it. Um, no. You can't promise people a fair contest based on votes and then rig it.

I have been totally fascinated by the Danny stuff in the recaps on TWOP--and agree with your assessment of what's really going on, or at least that that's far more likely. I just didn't see any reason that Danny should have been there more than Chikezie.

[lillijulianne.livejournal.com]

jacob at TWOP:

There's something ironic in the fact that Danny got Afghanistaned in this way -- used for the show's purposes and then being punished by America for being good at it -- with this, of all possible songs. There's something tainted about dudes kissing, and we are willing to forgive it as long as it stays small and silly and funny. There's something tainted about that love. But what's more tainted than homosexuality is the way that we, at this cusp of our national development, at this very specific moment in humanism and our social evolution as a culture, relate to it. We run to him, we run from him, we took all the boy could give, and it turns out that's not nearly all. America gets an F for knocking him off his pedestal, because it's way too early, but mostly: F America for putting him up there at all. He deserved better.

i rather like that.

[amyamy.livejournal.com]

I don't know, personally, I don't get the fuss. Maybe it's cause I don't follow any of the extra stuff or have any of the show's history, but I never really liked Danny and I'm glad Chikezie is going on and not him. Maybe I'm just anti-diva, but the boy annoyed me more than he entertained and while he was unquestionably a good singer, he didn't have the chops to pull that much attitude.

But then, I'm also loving that my first season is full on rocker and kind of suspect I'm going to be highly disapointed in the American public when the rockers get axed...

[locumtenens.livejournal.com]

When I think I can't love you more, you go and post something like this! Nothing to add that everyone else hasn't already said, but I just wanted to give my thumbs up. ;)

[sisterpandora.livejournal.com]

Love Nigel!

[adjudicated.livejournal.com]

I love your TV posts ♥

I'm so sorry you're sick -- here's sending you virtual chicken soup.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Your reply came so quickly and made me so glad that I made it! Hugs to you, too, sweetie!

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Thanks! You are so the tiny girl!

I actually don't have much of a problem with the crowning of David—he's very able and deserving, and in some ways what the show was about first season. It's more fun to watch the process, and hope that when he's 25 he doesn't become Britney.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I agree, it was about the passive, not the active, which really is how people get voted off—sometimes in our language we forget that the hated don't get voted off, but the forgotten and the not that much cared about.

I don't think they want anyone making out on television, actually. I think that the Simon/Paula stuff is only okay in that they don't go beyond the occasional tickle. There's all those STYCD relationships that were never discussed or particularly exploited on the show, and the strict gender separation on the tour buses and all of that. And yet Simon is so tactile that he can't help brushing his hand against Ryan's even in mid Paula snuggle.

These people are going to drive me insane, I swear.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

Oh, Danny Tidwell. He really won me over by the end.

I'm sad about the hate on for Chikezie—that's Nigel's fault; he may well not have been the third lowest guy. His fan base is so separate that I doubt that the Danny lovers hating on him will get him kicked off anyway.

I can't imagine Michael Johns will ever do anything interesting, but I've been wrong before!

It is totally Beatles week next week—Ryan announced it and everything. It's going to be legendary!

[jlh.livejournal.com]

So lame. Prizes = game show, period, no matter where the Emmys wants to put you.

Jacob really went to town on Danny. Now he won't have as big a distraction from the fate of David A.

[jlh.livejournal.com]

I liked:

it's curious, because there are plenty of moments all through this shit where he was normal and not trying to give the impression that he has lost his senses, but we didn't get to see many of those moments. We weren't really asking for them. I think there's something tainted in America that made him act that way, and then punished him for acting that way. I think he knew what was going on, but let his trust and hope about America get in the way of his utility. I think there's nothing yucky about Paula's optimism or Simon's pragmatism, but they do demand a lot more than I think most people, viewers and contestants alike, are willing to give.

Because the funny thing, in the end, about Simon is that he really cares. He cares so much that if he doesn't think you care, then he'll stop caring because as Saint Tim of the Gunn would say, he can't want you to succeed more than you do. If he wants it more, it's not going to work, and he's going to move on to someone who does want it. He doesn't want to waste his time or considerable energy on someone who doesn't deserve it. But my god, when he thinks you do, he'll give you everything. I mean, look at Ryan—whatever the nature of their relationship, he clearly adores Ryan because Ryan works very hard and is very good at his job. So there's this space where Nigel, and to some extent Ryan, will give everyone the easy way out—I think that when Ryan is questioning Simon he's not doing it on behalf of the singer, but the audience, which is why it pisses Simon off. And Randy is in this weird middle space because he wants people to be good, but he doesn't necessarily care about sales because that's someone else's job; yet at the same time, Randy's tastes are so boring that he ends up in the same place anyway. But Paula and Simon really are demanding a great deal.

The funny thing about Jacob talking about these two narratives is that they will absolutely come together in David A. In a sense, the fifth season was the most stark in terms of the three judges and their own tastes—Kat was malleable and packageable, Taylor was hard working and very good at churning out incredibly pedestrian product; and Elliott was the unlikely raw talent. Interesting that Paula really won that round. I wonder, if Kat had been out that week as she should have been, what Simon would have done with Chris, as I'm sure Paula would have demanded Elliott and Simon would have refused Taylor.

[akari-hayashi.livejournal.com]

I think I might shoot myself if he ever becomes BritBrit. XD But nah, the boy doesn't have one wicked bone in his tiny body. Yeah, that is what this season is about to me. Ignore everything and just concentrate on the singing (and in a way, consistency). You made me so happy by approving of David. =)

[akari-hayashi.livejournal.com]

'Coz Simon IS Simon. ;)

[akari-hayashi.livejournal.com]

People all over the forums right now are hating on Chekezie
Poor thing! :( And he was so comforting towards Danny too, that night!

Baby David a.k.a. the Second Coming
In a way, I like how this sounds lol. Even though I know you don't like him. XD