FOX is going to milk as much as they can out of their AMERICAN IDOL cash cow! Last week, AMERICAN IDOL (Tuesday) was the #1 prime time show in America. And the Wednesday version was #2. FOX is flying with this show!! If they can sell an hour, the show will be an hour, even though there’s no content to speak of until the last 10 minutes or so.
That’s why they had the non-elimination show last night. They need to end the May sweep with the final AMERICAN IDOL episode, so they needed this week to make the number of episodes come out right now that they’ve ousted Corey Clark. They’re not going to risk skipping a week. The momentum must be maintained.
That being said, I was totally surprised at the bottom three last night! Well, 2 of the bottom 3. Carmen’s appearance in the dregs did not surprise me at all. And she really did look like she knew she was gonna get axed from the minute she had to step down there.
So my question is: How the heck do we know that FOX isn’t pulling our chains, ignoring the phoned in votes and just picking out whoever they think will make the most intriguing bottom three? And are these free phone calls. . . or are people charged for them, leaving the possibility that FOX gets a percentage of the phone charges as profit, too. I put nothing past them!
As far as Fox jerking our chains, I guess there is no way to know for sure. I wish they’d post the actual number of votes each contestant got. As far as the cost of the calls, according to Idol On Fox:
So at least they’re not making money that way.
No, the phone calls are free. Mrs. Gumbercules calls and votes several times every week.
I have to wonder, though, if they might put more of an emphasis on the AT&T Wireless votes.
At least for me, the problem with Kimberly Locke is she always looks so smug standing on stage. She’s got an incredible voice, but from what I see from my living room her personality basically sucks eggs. But I still agree her placement in the bottom three is inexplicable.
I think they should get Cedric the Entertainer’s stylist to dress Ruben. He always looks suave and together.
IMO, they probably did it because they were in contract for a certain number of weeks. It’s easier to not eliminate anyone due to Corey’s unexpected disqualification than to come up one week short.
Simon Cowell isn’t listed as a producer, or a director, or anything else on the imdb, just as a judge. It is his record label that signs the winner, true. But he’s also free to offer a contract to anyone else that he likes; he’s not limited to the winner only. And it would make the most sense to pick the person that the public votes on (that person is already liked enough for the public to vote for him/her, therefore it stands to reason that he/she will sell more music) rather than just who Simon wants. If he wants to sign someone else as well, he’s got the opportunity to offer a contract. No biggie.
As far as last night’s show, I thought it was lame. I watched for an hour for nothing. And it was kind of a let down. But I wasn’t disappointed on the bottom 3. Based on Tuesday night’s performances only, ANYONE could’ve gone. There are only 2, maybe 3 contestants who have been consistently good. For the others, it’s just a matter of what order they go in.
Any one catch that tool Ryan Seacrest’s tasteless calling attention to the fire in R.I., all in the name of chastising Randy for inadvertently calling attention to it?
I honestly would have never thought of it if it wasn’t for Seacrest’s comment. He almost made a joke of the disaster.
I just checked in for the last ten minutes … and was thinking to myself that it is pretty cruel the way they string it all out before telling them who is going. And then … no one goes? Lame. I am sure it is to perserve their number of shows. But I could do without hearing Carmen sing again.
I thought Simon was referring to Ricky - but I could just be projecting my own thoughts.
Fingolfin - Heart of Glass? 1980 something? By Blondie? Is that disco?
Grrrr…
Hockey was on last night when AI should have been on… AI didn’t come on until almost 11:30pm.
SOOOO, I stayed awake.
For nothing.
I’m cranky and blaming Corey for it!
KinSaba, yeah, the Blondie song. GREAT tune. and yes, it’s considered disco even though it came at the tail end.
Okay. Since I hate disco and I like that Blondie song I must have personally classified it as something else in order to preserve my sense of dignity.
My first thought was that Simon was referring to Josh, too. I don’t like Josh much, but I think he’s a better singer than Ricky in general. However, I don’t think Simon’s long-term memory is that long.
The gay jokes are getting lame. Okay, they were lame to begin with, but even more so now.
She does! She really does! I think she’s pretty in an odd way, but she does resemble a dinosaur.
Maybe I’m overly cynical, but I’d guess the reason is simple: she weighs too much. Can’t have a woman with a healthy weight as our idol, no no no!
I completely miss the appeal of Carmen. I think she’s unattractive as well as by far the worst of the singers left. Her performances in previous nights were actually painful, though she didn’t do that bad this week. At least we got rid of Corey and his painful voice without actually having to listen to him again. However, Ryan Seacrest is now the man I’m most attracted to on the show, which is disturbing.
Released in 1979. Promotional video featured Debbie Harry dancing under a disco ball. Yes, it’s disco. Probably the most popular disco hit of all time. The single was such a big hit, it even warranted a party thrown by Andy Warhol at Studio 54!
Don’t be afraid to admit you like disco. We all do! Disco is your friend. And dammit, someone should have song the song on American Idol!
Has anyone else wondered why Trenyce is the only one that doesn’t use a last name? I think she has a nice voice, but that has always gotten to me for some reason.
I’m pulling for Rooooooben and Clay Aiken. I love Reuben’s big teddy bear look, and he did a great job on Tuesday night. And I just think Clay just has an incredible voice. Incredible. He wasn’t at his best on Tuesday, but I remember the first time I saw him sing on one of the semifinal shows. He sang “Open Arms” by Journey, and I swear his voice gave me goosebumps!
I’m still pulling for Josh too, even though he gave a crappy performance on Tuesday. I’m almost positive Josh was the one Simon was referring to when he made that comment about who should be in the bottom three last night. I still think he has time to redeem himself, though, and it’s obvious the viewers still like him.
Does anyone know if Josh has been called to go to Iraq? Last night he said his “buddies” were over there and all he could do was think of them. Could that be possible that the rest of his troop was called but not him? I felt he had a hard time singing “Celebration” because he has been focusing on the war and if indeed he has buddies over there, it must be quite difficult to sing that song on the show and be happy about it. It seemed he was in a better mood on the elimination show though, of course after he was safe.
I hope Reuban wins. That other guy with the spikey hair reminds me of peter pan in a boy asexual sort of way and although he is a very strong singer I dont find his look appealing.
Again, though… if that were true, why wasn’t she in the bottom three last week? If people don’t like her, that’s fine, they have their reasons. (She does a poor job selling her personality, too.) But why would you hate her more the week she was better?
But as to appearance, I must point out that the fans have generally done a good job NOT choosing people based on appearance. All the hottest chicks in the Final 32 were voted off the show, IMHO. All the best looking guys got the boot, too. A lot of the people chosen by the fans - including Kimberley Locke, I must remind you - do not have popstar looks:
Clay Aiken - Looks like one of those troll dolls
Ruben Studdard - Obese beyond belief
Kim Locke - Overweight
Vanessa Olivarez - Freaky
Trenyce - Looks like velociraptor
Rickey Smith - Looks like Sammy Sosa after six months of a crash diet
Charles Grigsby - Looks like chihauhua
The two hot blonde chicks left, Kim Caldwell and Carmen Rasmussen, had to make it as judge-picked wild cards.
dreamer, by “buddies” I am sure Josh meant Marines in general. His unit probably has not been called. I think he’s in a support unit anyway.
RickJay: Hey now, let’s be fair. Clay does not look like a troll doll. That’s unnecessarily mean of you to say. Clearly, he looks like Alfred E. Neumann, right down to the freakish ears (not missing a front tooth, though).
But dammit, can the boy sing.
It was originally a slow reggae song according to their Behind The Music. So people can escape the taint on that one. 
Dude, I’ve been trying to put my finger on what Rickey looks like since the show started and you nailed it 100%.
Thanks for the laugh!
I didn’t notice if anyone mentioned it already, but it looked to me as though Simon was pissed off at the end of the show when it was announced that everyone was safe; it didn’t seem to me as though he knew it was going to happen.
Kim Caldwell, okay, but I can’t see what makes Carmen hot. She has a face like a pug dog.
Based on a close-up of Carmen’s face, I think she’s also wearing a ton of pancake. I could see some blotchiness and bumps on the left side of her chin (where I get spots when I talk on the phone a lot, from holding it with my jaw).