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It's Andrew Lloyd Webber's fault Carly was cut

by Jason Hughes, posted Apr 25th 2008 11:04AM

Carly SmithsonOkay, well maybe. Certainly he talked Carly out of her original song choice of The Phantom of the Opera's "All I Ask of You" and into the more controversial "Superstar," from Jesus Christ Superstar. The New York Times reports that Carly Smithson's song choice may have spelled her doom from American Idol this past week. Many fans were none too pleased with her performing that particular number, sounding off online against the singer.

Surely Webber recalls the furor the album and subsequent stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar wrought from some religious groups when it first came out. While, as the Times piece indicates, the sensitivity over its controversial nature has waned in the passing decades, it has not died out. Just as many say Kristy Lee Cook's rendering of "God Bless the USA" rallied a certain sect of the population to vote for her and keep her around longer, it's certainly possible that Carly's "Jesus Christ Superstar" had the exact opposite effect.

Her performance was lauded by the panel as one of the stronger ones of the night. So if it was the choice of song that spelled Carly's demise on American Idol, and Andrew Lloyd Webber essentially pushed her into singing that song, then logic dictates it's all his fault. Right? Or was it the tats? Or the failed former recording career? Or the funny faces she made? Or was it just her time? Hey let's find out all official-like what you all think it was.

What do you think led to Carly's elimination?
Singing "Jesus Christ Superstar"163 (19.3%)
her tattoos136 (16.1%)
the funny faces she makes when singing26 (3.1%)
the fact that she's already had a major recording contract81 (9.6%)
her screaming/screeching through songs229 (27.1%)
the fact that she's not american80 (9.5%)
she won't return my calls29 (3.4%)
other (explain--that's what comments are for)102 (12.1%)

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23 Comments

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Gil

American Idol has become a popularity contest. Brooke continues to screw up and Jason still looks like a caucasian Bob Marley, yet they go on. Carly Smithson is clearly more talented than Jason, hands down.

April 29 2008 at 5:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

P.S. There is a big difference between Carly's arm tattoo and her freakin' Queequeg of a husband!

April 25 2008 at 4:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kim

I was raised as a fundamentalist Baptist although I no longer subscribe to that extreme ideology. True enough, most fundies are/were totally offended by Jesus Christ Superstar. They consider this musical to be sacreligious. I have mixed feelings about that but people should remember that Carly didn't write the song, she just sang it. By the way, I also think most of the fundie's pastors would have something to say about them watching AI at all. In the words of Momma Bouchet, rock music is the devil! Seriously, I don't think the fundies were voting for tattood Carly (Yes, tattoos are the devil) to begin with. Who will they vote for now? Rocker David with the dyed hair and razor stubble, pot smoking Jason with the dredlocks, or (gasp) David A the Mormom? I guess that only leaves wholesome Brooke.

April 25 2008 at 4:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rmpr

She was very needy.. You could feel her suffering and yearning she needed to relax.. Unfortunately she decided to have fun too late she should've been more laid back

April 25 2008 at 2:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jimmy

I find it utterly hilarious that conservative Christians find Jesus Christ Superstar offensive, and quite frankly a little sad. If that's truly the reason Carl got voted off then how sad for our country.

Simple truth is, Carly was never going to win. The woman has a wonderful voice and could still have a career with some proper guidance, but she's simply not the kind of singer the tweens who control this show would like. That why we still have Brooke and Jason, and that's why David A will be the ultimate winner. With the group we have left, David Cook should be the winner, but the tweens will make sure cutesy David A wins.

April 25 2008 at 1:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Duane

When what's her face did that "God Bless The USA" song I was nauseated, and the fact that the judges raved about it made it all the worse. Everything about that song conjures up for me images of pickup trucks, rifle racks and confederate flags.

JC Superstar is a good song, and a better choice than the one she had, at least as far as fitting her voice. However it not only questions Jesus' authenticity, it has the word "Muhammed" in it, so down she does.

God bless the USA indeed. Was she at least wearing a flag pin in her lapel? Quick, somebody get her Reverend on the line and see what he has to say about this.

(Truthfully, she's been in the bottom 2 before so it's not really a surprise or a conspiracy that she's gone. As has been said previously, when you know the middle of the pack, it doesn't matter what order they go down in.)

April 25 2008 at 1:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michelle

Perhaps Carly didn't deserve to go home before Jason or Brooke, but it was pretty obvious that she wasn't going to win. She never even gave any stand out performances. The two Davids have several good ones, Brooke had "Love is a Battlefield", Jason had "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and Syesha had the "Rock and Roll" song. Carly was well, just Carly. Nice voice, nice personality but really just missing the X factor. We can blame Andrew Lloyd Weber, but after 3 tries at making it in Hollywood, Carly may just want to try something else.

April 25 2008 at 1:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Beenthere

She HAD an Album - sales were poor!
She HAD a label - they dropped her!

Totally unfair she used Idol to try to jump start her career AGAIN! She had her chance, and that chance was blown. Someone else, who NEVER HAD AN ALBUM OR LABEL SPONSORHIP, should have a shot!

April 25 2008 at 1:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Beenthere's comment
Museseeker

My understanding was that she wasn't dropped from the label (which was a small label), but rather that the label went out of business. I suspect her album didn't sell because it wasn't marketed properly. Did you ever hear about it? I know I didn't.

April 25 2008 at 2:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brian.stuart

No, she was dropped by her label, museseeker. After that, her label merged with another company. She wasn't on some indie label. She was signed to MCA Records which later merged with Geffen records. Both record labels were part of Universal. Indeed, Geffen was once bought by MCA. Its not that her label went under. It was just phased out in favor of the Geffen name. They had major stars, all of whom stayed after the merger. I gather Carly has suggested she lost her deal when her label went under, but that's pure spin.

The truth is that like her or hate her, she did have a deal with a major label that turned into literally a textbook example of a music industry marketing failure. As in, its actually in music business textbooks for being such an abject failure to promote an artist. I actually liked what I saw of Carly, but her spinning over her record deal irked me. I don't know if its an effort to deceive or self-delusion, but it isn't accurate. That much I know.

April 25 2008 at 2:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
C C

The Times article hit the nail on the head. A huge chunk of Idol's audience comes from the southern states, which are generally more conservative and religious than the rest of the country. My mom, who grew up in Missouri and Arkansas, actually said on Tuesday after Carly's performance that Webber shouldn't have persuaded her to sing "Jesus Christ Superstar" because it would be offensive to some Americans. Her words were prophetic. Carly wasn't going to win anyway, but she should have ended up being the third or fourth kicked off.

April 25 2008 at 1:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1iPete

It's the teens and tweens who log hundreds of votes for the 2 full hours and I just don't think Carly attracted many of those rabid fans. At this point, it's inevitable that Brooke and Syesha will leave in the next 2 weeks, just the order remains to be seen as we get to the power fans' faves in Jason and the 2 Davids.

On the other hand, if a contestant gets voted off by singing Shout at the Devil during Motley Crue week, then I'm convinced.



April 25 2008 at 1:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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