# American Idol 1/17 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339 "2006-01-17T14:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/201 "2006-01-19T16:48:00Z")
Well, in my part of the country people don’t use horses for much on the farm, and they’re mostly a hobby/luxery. That might be different in Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/202 "2006-01-19T16:48:56Z")
My favorite “I live in fantasy land” line of the night was when Coaster Boy explained that people were intimidated by his intelligence. I’d love to get a load of his passel of friends. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/203 "2006-01-19T16:53:32Z")
> [@Walter Windchill](#): > > Well, in my part of the country people don’t use horses for much on the farm, and they’re mostly a hobby/luxery. That might be different in Colorado. He said he spent a lot of his time “chasing cows,” so his family may actually own a ranch (or possibly a dairy farm) rather than (or at least in addition to) a farm specializing in arable crops. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/204 "2006-01-19T17:05:14Z")
Either way, they could have precious little, if any, disposable income. A farm of any kind can be very expensive to run, and as I said, most of their ownership might well be ownership of debt. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/205 "2006-01-19T17:08:01Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Either way, they could have precious little, if any, disposable income. A farm of any kind can be very expensive to run, and as I said, most of their ownership might well be ownership of debt. I agree. I was just saying that the use of horses could very well be a necessary component of running the place and not just a luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/206 "2006-01-19T17:14:12Z")
One thing I did wonder about, though. Two of those put through were from North Carolina. Why didn’t they audition in Greensboro? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/207 "2006-01-19T17:14:33Z")
Plus if the kid lives in a town of 4 people, the nearest voice teacher could be a prohibitive distance away. My impression was that Simon let the kid through because he knows he’ll get some good vocal coaching at the Hollywood auditions, and can use that as a base to work on his singing, as well as some experience on stage to get over his nervousness. Singing for people _is_ a bit different from singing for a turkey. Which is the set of twins with the criminal records? And do they really think that their records won’t get exposed immediately by going the AI route? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/208 "2006-01-19T17:14:35Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Yeah, but I think he meant that he — personally — didn’t have the money. It is often that case that rural conservative families require their children to earn whatever allowance they might get. That said, it could well be the case that his parents can’t afford it either, even if they wanted to give it to him (and they probably do). Agriculture is a big industry these days, and many small independently owned farms/ranches are just barely scraping by. I’m not sure it’s a question of money. I think it’s a matter of, the “town” where he lives is literally his family’s land, incorporated, with a lot of two-lane blacktop between them and the nearest music **store** , let alone a music **teacher**. It would take him a while just to find someone to give him lessons, and when he did, he’d have to live in a motel or out of his truck for a few weeks while he was getting the instruction. And he’d be rolling the dice as far as finding a teacher who could improve him to AI standards. As for affording anything, I believe AI does **not** pay for the plane tickets, but that’s not necessarily the issue. If he can’t afford it, or his parents won’t help, I’m sure the people at church, or the people his dad knows at the bar (is Gareth even old enough to drink?) or at the feed store or whatever, would take up a collection to get him there. And that would be gold to AI; that’s just the kind of story they like to play up! ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/209 "2006-01-19T17:17:51Z")
All the horsey talk notwithstanding, where in the hell is our Little Hobbit Cowboy going to find a voice teacher in a town of 4 people? Even if he could afford it. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/210 "2006-01-19T17:30:23Z")
Well, Tennessee’s bid for Idol fame is done. The twins are both in the poke and eliminated from the competition. Apparently they’d made the final 24. I’m told the cowboy is from Wyoming (let the Brokeback Mountain jokes fly). I don’t know anything about Wyoming – maybe everyone has a horse there. Forgive my earlier ignorant speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/211 "2006-01-19T17:35:32Z")
> [@Walter Windchill](#): > > Well, Tennessee’s bid for Idol fame is done. The twins are both in the poke and eliminated from the competition. Apparently they’d made the final 24. > > I’m told the cowboy is from Wyoming (let the Brokeback Mountain jokes fly). I don’t know anything about Wyoming – maybe everyone has a horse there. Forgive my earlier ignorant speculation. No, I will NOT forgive your earlier ignorant speculation! I ENCOURAGE it! What this thread needs is more speculation, ignorant or otherwise. I speculate that Tiny Cowboy will cry, miss his maw and quit in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/212 "2006-01-19T17:49:57Z")
[CNN says](http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/19/idol.twins.ap/index.html) that the one twin has been in jail since January 10, one week before their audition was broadcast. So I have to wonder: did his brother wait to inform 19Entertainment until after they’d gotten on TV, or did 19E know about it before Tuesday, and suppress the info for the sake of a ready-made scandal? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/213 "2006-01-19T18:23:07Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > I forget her name, but the Best Sixteen Year Old Ever was pretty darn good. A little too good maybe. I get that weird vibe from her I get when watching those creepy-as-hell 6 year old kiddie barbie contests. I liked that she seemed down to earth though. Her name is Lisa Tucker, and she’s a former Junior Star Search contestant. You can see her SS bio, and watch clips of her performances [here.](http://www.cbs.com/primetime/star_search/junior/episode08/lisa_tucker_bio.shtml) (She was 13 years old at the time). I actually remember seeing her on the show at the time, now that I’m reminded of her performances from those videos. I bet Fox would love to turn a SS reject into their Idol! I’m loving the show this season. I do wish they’d show more of the auditions where people actually get through, but I get why they show the bad ones, and as long as we get to see more of them in Hollyweird, it’s all good. I can’t believe how Paula propped up Ace in her recent interviews, seeing as how he almost wasn’t even sent through. Perhaps he showed much improvement in later parts of the audition process that we haven’t seen yet. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339/214 "2006-01-19T18:48:24Z")
I might just be me, but Paula seems to vote males through according to her (apparent at least) taste in men: ethnic, tall, slim, or at least tattooed. Thus, Chris got her vote but Garrett didn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-17/340339.md?page=10)