The American Idol morning hangover

You can't change the voting procedure JUST BECAUSE of Chris Daughtry. Besides, if he HAD a rabid fan base (which can translate to sales figures), he wouldn't be leaving. Chris just didn't have the numbers to sell his (future) records, I'm so sorry. Another downside to VOTING OUT the weakest performer is that it promotes "ganging up" on a specific performer. It also makes the toughest contender even more vulnerable if fans of other contestants voted against him/her. The numbers have spoken: Chis is a weakling.

No Randy, America did get it right. We may be truly confused people, but those who cared enough to actually dial in

their votes, spoke and Chris is gone. Now it is not the end of the world as we know it, because Chris is a very talented

and resourceful young man with a bright future in the rock industry. He is past the point of needing AI for a record

deal. AI loses out, maybe, but not Chris. There are, however, very important lessons that we keep ignoring, resulting in

repeated surprises: the arrogance of youth, the tenaciousness of the desperate housewife, and the unbearable impulse to

play God.

By Deanna Hanford

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Arrogance cannot be claimed solely by the youthful; however, after it has jumped up and smacked us in the face several

times, we tend to become more cautious. Egocentricity also plays a nasty role. We tend to believe that we are average

people and thus what we believe, everyone else must also believe. (I think this is a big fault Americans have

internationally as well.) Some of us move beyond this… most of us do not. Chris’ fans are mostly a younger group who are

entertained purely by cutting edge work, very current, but very focused on youth. These fans have more important social

agendas then to watch a hokey Elvis night on AI. They felt safe for Chris and proceeded to go about what they wanted to

do, arrogantly thinking that Chris was the chosen one and some lesser being would be voted off. It is not that they did

not have a clue thrown their way. Chris was in the bottom two for Rod Stewart’s American Classics night. Again, why

should they waste their valuable time watching a boring old fashioned segment of AI...their boy was the chosen one. The

difference was that more contestants were left in the game at that point. Lesson one, if you want something you have to

work for it, it just won’t be handed to you because you think you deserve it.

Dialing in your vote for two hours solid is very daunting and only the most tenacious among us will stay on task. There

is a difference in success rate whether you are dialing from a land line or cell phone, whether you can text in your

vote or not, whether you call the first or second number repeatedly, or whether you try calling right after the show has

ended and then give up because everyone is trying to call in at the same time. The “desperate housewives”, arguably the

largest group of AI fans, are easily swayed into a manic phase to make their vote count. They will influence their young

to join in on the redial game, and convince them that “My Idol” is “Your Idol”. This group is a little older and

desperate to succeed. Their idol is one who is flawed but touches the heart in a very special way. Taylor makes you feel

good and draws you into his music, entertaining you as no other AI contestant has done before…often breaking the scared

AI rules in the process (we love the unlikely rebel). Elliot soothes your tensions and makes you want to fight as hard

as he is to keep him in the game (we love the underdog cause). Katharine is beautiful and although she doesn’t know just

who she is yet, you know she will be tremendously famous someday and you just want to help her find her way (we love Mr.

McPhee’s precious daughter as if she were our own). And then there is Chris, the chosen one who has the whole package,

and needs no outside help. Need I say anything else? Lesson two, if you want something bad enough, don’t give up and

DON’T take it for granted because there are those, more tenacious, who are waiting to snatch it away from you in a blink

of an eye.

That brings me to the final point, the unbearable impulse to play God. This is what drives us to vote 200 times for our

idol, the belief that our vote actually counts. Nights like last night bring this point home. It is not that my 200

votes meant a great deal, but rather that thousands of people, just like me, who felt moved enough to vote for the same

favorite, kept that person safe from going home. That is why I vote. That is why I love AI. I actually feel I have a

voice in what happens. My team wins, I feel good. Now the AI judges have taken this premise a step further and have

continually tried to influence our votes by their comments or lack of criticism when it actually was deserved. It might

be due to personal taste, granted they all have extensive experien

I was surprised at Chris being voted off however I think with or without being the idol he will make it big and no he is not who I would pick to be the idol to be honest tho he is good I personally just don't care for the type of music he is best at.
But I think people have to wake up here its not the time to vote for the underdog because you feel sorry for him or her this show is about talent. Who has it and who can make it in the entertainment industry. Whoever it is you vote for please vote for who you think actually has the talent to make it. And I probably shouldn't put this here but someone who consistently can't remember words to a song is NOT going to last long in this industry. Just vote for who you think is best

I know this will never happen, but I think from seeing what happened with Chris and other contestants from previous American Idol shows, the viewers voting should no longer happen! It seems the viewers get it wrong every time a so called winner is chosen. Am I the only one that sees that Randy, Paula, and Simon are the only ones who get it right? After all, they judge it on talent, and not on a popularity contest like the general puplic seem to do every time! Or, if the general public picks only the bottom two each week, then let the judges decide their fate each week. When the bottom two are selected by the public, they each perform a song for the judges to make the final decision. The phone line idea just doesn't work! It's time for a change!

Chris lost because he proved two weeks running that he can't manage to sing two songs in an hour, with a half hour break in between. If he can't manage that, how's he going to handle performing an entire concert?

Face it: all he could do was screech out one song per night. And if we want to talk karaoke: what was Chris doing on Elvis night? A really bad karaoke version of the king, complete with Elvis warble. His two songs were mediocre, at best. Sure Kat sucked... but Chris wasn't even trying.

If he isn't willing to put out his best effort every week, then why should America vote for him to be their newest idol?

Taylor may make it to the final, but he is not going to win. He is a friggin' caricature. I think Chris' and Kat's votes will go to Elliott.

I totally agree with you about the voting thing, but they'd never do it. Voting against one, versus voting for 10, would reduce the total number of votes by a lot.

Fewer votes = fewer text messages = less $$

GREAT IDEA! I've never thought of that. It would make more sence to do it that way! That way people would not vote for their second favorites assuming that people like Chris will be in the finales any way, and will have plenty of votes. Again, GREAT IDEA!!!!

Kids, with nothing else to do (especially not read or do homework) hit redial time and time again. People should be made to vote only once, or perhaps four times per family. What kind of life does someone have who sits and hits redial continuously.
Voting against someone is mean.
Taylor will win. Chris was a one genre singer. An American Idol should be able to sing everything. Elliot, Chris and Kat (although she is not my favorite) are the overall best singers. Paris is superb, but too young.

Brian (14) makes a good point. Something that has bugged me for a while is how we say Chris (or whoever) was "voted off" when that's not really the case.
That phrase is a remnant of Survivor, where the contestants really do vote for who they want to go home. But here, the viewers vote for who they want to see continue. The "loser" is simply the one who got the fewest votes.
So let me ask this: Would the final four (or three now) be the same if viewers instead had to vote for who went home? Would the show be any different?

Just curious...