My husband is done with American Idol because of Sanjaya. It’s hard enough to listen to the music (which ain’t our cup o’ tea to begin with) without suffering the likes of this kid. He said he won’t watch anymore, but since we only have one TV, I believe he’ll be watching at least some of it. 
They’re getting millions of votes–it seemed like the opening vote volume was up near the volume usually seen closer to the final.
Actually, I think Simon has backed off quite a bit with the personal attacks this season. He said on Leno that one of the contestants (Katherine McPhee?) took him to task last season for his comments about her weight, and that he realized he was being a jerk. Suprisingly I find myself agreeing with Simon more than I disagree.
I think Randy has gotten more abrasive than Simon lately. (Though admittedly I haven’t caught the last two shows because my Tivo didn’t tape them for some reason.)
I really don’t are about American Idol, and only ended up in this thread by accident.
That being said, however, I have met William Hung when he was doing a gig. Yes, he was flown in and paid however many thousands of dollars (plus a big black bald bodyguard) to sing something like three songs (badly).
He, it could be said, really didn’t know about what might happen as a bad singer in a competition like American Idol. He got mocked and has made out like a bandit. The same can’t be said for someone in the sixth season…but if he can get some fame and some cash out of it, I have a hard time thinking of him as a victim.
-Joe
Unfortunately for me, since it’s in the upcoming series in our theater subscription, getting ready to star in the Broadway production of The Color Purple. Maybe I’ll get lucky and she won’t stay with the touring company when they hit the road.
What sucks is that even though he’s by FAR the worst in “the competition”, he’ll make it another week.
Tonight’s rendition of “You really got me” was his worst ever, and for some ungodly reason, he received praise from the judges.
I liked him early on… now I want him to get hit by a fucking truck.
It was hideous but I think they gave him praise for not just standing there and doing karaoke, but giving it some energy. Hideous energy, but still.
What kills me is that one of my favorites, Sabrina was knocked out very early (possibly because of the VFTW crowd) - she didn’t go far enough to really be remembered - some only get aboard and watch at 12 contestants. She really could have used the big break.
And it’s the top 10 who get to go out on tour, so tonight is important for that.
I really think this hubbub is quite overblown. I am certain that some enterprising talent scout was backstage after Sabrina got the boot. (I think Cowell’s company has claws on them, though.) These people got a lot of exposure from being on Idol, and I think they will all benefit.
As others have noted, the truly talented won’t be frozen out. I would imagine that Jennifer Hudson is quite pleased in how things worked out for her.
Liberal, are you insinuating that Taylor Hicks was a joke vote? That’s… just plain nuts. Taylor was a fantastic singer and my favorite AI winner to date. (Doff of the cap to Kelly Clarkson, who didn’t really do much for me, but is quite talented and has emerged from the AI shadow.) McPhee was boring as they come, and Daughtry bored me senseless. I think we can all agree, however, that these folks were all clearly talented and whether you think one is better than the other is pretty subjective.
Scott Savol, on the other hand, we can probably agree was terrible in the singing, looks, and personality department. Probably why we haven’t heard of his since. And I don’t see him garnering much sympathy from the American public either.
Sanjaya, on the other hand, is an adequate singer, very pretty, charming, and is a lock to end up acting or singing after AI… mark my words. Especially for young people, singing is less and less important than image and marketing. This is a generation that grew up listening to Britney Spears.
Just a final post to gloat! Sanjaya makes the tour.
Next stop - to be the Idol!
I’m sure that Stephanie Edwards, a talented singer, is thrilled for you.
A boring singer who never would have won.
Completely run-of-the-mill, forgettable performances, and if you want to break things down demographically, there were 3 other black women who all blew her away weekly.
I’m not saying she deserved to win, but she deserved to stay longer. Yes, her losing performance was boring but she had better performances and yes, there are 3 other much better black women singers. She may have actually done much better in a different group of finalists. I think it’s unfortunate for her but she really should have at least been in the group that goes on tour.
I’m really not convinced that VFTW or Stern have anything to do with Sanjaya staying, he obviously does get a lot of teen votes and people who vote for him out of sympathy or just because they like him, VFTW may have only managed to push him up to 3rd worst of the night. However, if VFTW is having some effect it is only hurting people like Stephanie and gloating over it is just mean-spirited.
Anyway, I am done with this argument. If all of you get so much joy out of something cruel then knock yourselves out. Hey, since the weather is warming up perhaps you could take a trip down to the beach and see if there are some kids building sandcastles that you could kick over? Or maybe there are some babies at the park with some candy you could steal!
[…Rodney Dangerfield making merciless fun of the ridiculous looking hats for sale in the pro shop, turns around and sees a man wearing one of them…]
Looks good on you, though!
Hell, with the right group of finalists, you or I could do much better. But, compared with her competition in REAL life, she, like you or I, apparently stunk up the joint.
Hell, I vote for him because I actually DO like him best. Go Sanjaya!!
I thought VFTW was no longer that big a deal. Didn’t Antonella’s elimination prove that?
I don’t think Antonella had any fans outside of her New Jersey hometown and I think the internet photos scandal and her attitude on that last show soured anyone on giving her sympathy votes. I don’t think enough horny teenaged boys watch AI to give Antonella any extra votes and they’d probably want to see her off the show anyway so she’ll take that Playboy deal. So I think VFTW had absolutely no influence on her last performance.
Sanjaya, on the other had, is cute, sweet, personable and he’s got young girls and probably a lot of other people who’ll vote for him for just for that. I am not convinced that Stern or VFTW could be doing much more than pushing him up one extra level from where the regular voters put him. It won’t matter at the point where there are less singers to choose from and the best singers are getting all the votes. His fans and Stern/VFTW won’t be able to get him enough votes to win. But in the meantime, better singers than him go home sooner than they should because they got pushed down on the list due to that little extra boost Sanjaya got.
My main issue with this VFTW thing is these people don’t care if they ruin other people’s enjoyment of the show or the contestants Idol experience. They think they are hurting the producers of the show but they’re not, THEY ARE EATING UP ALL THE PUBLICITY! Do you think if they wanted Sanjaya gone this soon they’d have shown “Little Crying Girl” so much during Sanjaya’s performance? Apparently she cried for the entire show but they only made a big deal out of it during Sanjaya’s performance. Someone tells the camera crew where to aim the camera. I think they know he’ll never win, they can always throw out votes when the time comes. For now he gets them extra publicity.
I have another separate issue with Howard Stern who is making this seem like it’s his idea and taking credit for it all because obviously he wasn’t getting enough media attention and that other guy named Howard Stern was getting too much.
But I said I was done here and I am now, I’m just repeating myself and the OP and those who share the OP’s sentiment aren’t going to listen anyway.
:rolleyes: Howard Stern does not care about media attention at this point in his career. He’s under contract at a fixed pay rate. He has also never claimed this was his idea (though lord knows it’s his turn to do so considering the dozens of ideas that mainstream media has stolen from him over the years.)
All I know is that Sanajaya was in the bottom 2 after his (not all that bad) rendition of Ain’t no Mountain High Enough, and then Stern steps up the VFTW effort and Sanjaya does a downright horrifying performance of You Really Got Me and he’s no longer in the bottom 2.
. . . and my wife is pissed at me for voting for him :D.