# American Idol: Quarterfinal 1, Feb. 4 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 5, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-quarterfinal-1-feb-4/152840 "2003-02-05T02:07:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [February 6, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-quarterfinal-1-feb-4/152840/61 "2003-02-06T19:20:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Barbarian \* > > \*\*I’m just wondering why anyone participates in this kind of show. It’s not like anyone ever actually gets a career out of it. \*\* Tell that to [Brad Garrett](http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Garrett,%20Brad)… > [@](#): > > In 1984, he became the first $100,000 grand champion winner in the comedy category of ‘Star Search’. This led to his first appearance, at age 23, on 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, ’ making him one of the youngest comedians ever to perform on the show. I’m sure LeAnn Rimes would disagree, as well. Not to mention Justin Timberlake, Sinbad, Britney Spears, Dennis Miller, Christina Aguilera, Ray Romano, Rosie O’Donnell, Drew Carey, Alanis Morisette and Martin Lawrence, to name a few. I missed last night’s show, sadly, but I’m thrilled to pieces that the 2 I voted for actually made it – Woo Hoo! But I have a question about the whole Kimberly/Julia fight. I do have it taped, but I’m at work so I can’t go watch it to see if **EhhMon’s** assertion is true. But it occurs to me that the producers were keeping pretty good tabs on every single contestant, so wouldn’t they have _known_ that the other 3 were in their room rehearsing while Julia was sitting in the lobby? Would they have deliberately let her sit there in an effort to manipulate their team’s performance by excluding her? ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-quarterfinal-1-feb-4/152840/62 "2003-02-07T20:07:12Z")
RickJay said: > [@](#): > > I’m not certain Caldwell will get a wild card. She was the best of that group (by a country mile) and was basically beaten by FOX’s editors and a lot of very gullible voters, which is unfair, so you’d think she’d get the nod. I think whether or not she gets a nod will depend in part on how much control Fox and the producers have over the judges. It was not a coincidence that Kimberly and Julia were in the same group to perform. It was not a coincidence that, even after both of them said the argument was long behind them, the voiceover recap on Wednesday of Tuesday’s performances called them “rivals.” It was not coincidence that Charles’ name was revealed first, leaving these two girls wondering who would advance and who wouldn’t. Conflict is good for reality TV. If the producers can play Kimberly fans against Julia fans later in the series (and they can – just look at how differently people here in this thread have interpreted the whole little tiff), then it would behoove them to bring Kimberly in as the wildcard. I have to say, in my expert 🙂 opinion, Kimberly did not sing well on Tuesday. stuckinthemiddle suggested that voters just weren’t familiar with the song – but I think people WERE familiar with it, and didn’t like the way she sang it. At least that’s how I felt, and I know I’ve gotten e-mails saying the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-quarterfinal-1-feb-4/152840/63 "2003-02-07T20:08:51Z")
Shayna said: > [@](#): > > But it occurs to me that the producers were keeping pretty good tabs on every single contestant, so wouldn’t they have known that the other 3 were in their room rehearsing while Julia was sitting in the lobby? Would they have deliberately let her sit there in an effort to manipulate their team’s performance by excluding her? Even IF that is what happened (and I don’t happen to think it is), I wouldn’t call that manipulation. The camerapeople are there to record the action, not to focus it in a certain direction. If they knew there had been a misunderstanding, it was not there job to fix it, but to record it. Just like it wasn’t their job to tell the three idiots hitting the bars that it was a STUPID IDEA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-quarterfinal-1-feb-4/152840.md?page=3)