I’ll have to admit that I am slightly normal. (big surprise…). I love American Idol. I’m also not normal. (you knew that, of course). I also hate American Idol.
I love their mission to find new up-and-coming singers with real talent. In a culture where music is now based on the hotness/sexy-ness of the star or starlet, at least American Idol finalists can sing.
But American Idol has soured for me in the past two years – the years that I really got into it. I might have casually kept my ear out before-hand, but I actually followed how the eliminations went each week, and had favorite contestants.
The fun was ruined in Season 8, when my favorite singer, Allison Iraheta (and I can pronounce it too) was prematurely voted off, and Kris ended up winning. Not that anything was wrong with Kris, but he was nothing special for me. Why? Because unlike most average American teenagers, I never ever watch television. We don’t even have any sort of cable plan, just because the tv doesn’t get turned on often enough to justify the expense. So, when AI season comes around, I watch reruns on youtube, and listen on iTunes the next day. I base my favoritism on the singing, and how well they did the cover…
- I have an automatic preference for female voices over mens’.
- I also prefer those who can actually belt something out, as opposed to karaoke style.
- P.S. – in case you wanted to know at all, I have a neutral/nonexistant love of the band U2.
But she didn’t get far enough in the competition. *sigh* I also liked Crystal Bowersox – thankfully she made it to the finale (but not to first place).
Because the nature of the contest is public voting, I can’t help but wonder how much of the voting is:
“Oh my gosh! He’s so cute!”
Instead of
“Oh my gosh! What an awesome voice!”
I’m not one of those fan-girlish people, and when the more talented singers (in my honest opinion) get voted off in favor of U2 hopefuls who are more “cute” then extraordinary (no offense to any of you U2 hopefuls out there), I just want to hit my head against the desk. Which, of course, is the next thing I do.
**Photo credit goes to Photobucket and their respective owners beyond that. The videos are not mine in any way shape or form – those also belong to someone else.
Farmgirl Writes 
Allison Iraheta was my favorite too! I was so ticked off when she was eliminated… I hope that she continues to pursue a musical career. When it came to the final two, I was rooting for Adam big time, because it IS a singing competition and there was no comparison about vocal talent or general artistry. I wish you weren't right about 'ooh he's cute lemme vote ten million times with my unlimited texting'. Seriously, the majority of votes come from those who text the most. Who is that? Teens and preteens, some of whom are fickle. Which to me, is why Kris won.And the judging situation? I'll miss Simon so much… he was always my favorite :). Did you hear that Steven Tyler was also considering judging? Interesting stuff… Anyway, I agree with most all of your post (Though I wasn't really rooting for Katie Stevens… sorry) 🙂 lol.