I have to say that, after reading some of the letters posted on the site, I would have to agree with what Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said after 9/11: irony in America is dead. Some people are taking this show waaaaaay too seriously. I suppose these are the same people who audition for AI and think it's the end of the world when they don't get in. I'm glad to see some people get your jokes on here, though. It shows that there's still a little brain power (and thick skin) defending the masses (though I do find some of the rampant and vehement homophobia quite disturbing). For what it's worth, I actually didn't think that Sanjaya was all that bad this week. I've been cringing a bit with him simply because he seems to have been really holding himself back ever since he got put in front of an audience. But with this week, he actually let go of his inhibitions a bit and was entertaining and watchable. He doesn't have a half-bad rock voice, either, considering his personality. He took a real risk in doing You Really Got Me, and I think it paid off for him. Maybe he's finally found his niche. Aside for VFTW campaign against him (I mean, ahem, FOR him), I think he's getting the votes because he's at that age when pre-teen and young teenage girls will find him attractive. Think about it--in the world of teen fandom, Phil is too old, Chris Sligh is too chubby, Chris Richardson is too edgy, and Blake is too sophisticated. That leaves Sanjaya for them to focus on. Furthermore, people seem to forget that he is South Asian. There are very few "stars" from that community that are successfully represented in American pop culture: Parminder Nagra on ER, Kal Penn in Harold and Kumar, and Naveen Andrews on Lost. About the closest thing to a South Asian celebrity in the Western music world was Sonya Aurora Madan from Britpop band Echobelly, and their peak was in the mid-1990s. So when you're a community that's starving for your own idol to represent you, of course you're going to go out and vote for him. That's one of the reasons Jasmine did so well in season 3. Finally, the show is called American Idol; while the judges and other people may think it's a singing contest, the title says that it's based on much more than that. If it were only about singing, the title would be "American Singer." With "Idol" in the title, instead, it implies that there are other factors involved in looking for the winner; there's an undefinable "It" factor involved that takes into account looks, fashion sense, personality, age, gender, likeability, and, yes, talent--all sorts of elements. And predicting which one will take precedence come voting night is an exercise in futility. So VFTW may just be one out of a million reasons why Sanjaya is still there (sorry guys). You only have to see the expression on little Ashley's face (and that of her sister, who must be pissed off that her younger sibling got to meet everyone when she didn't) to see that there is absolutely no logic to thing whatsoever. That is what we armchair pop culture analysts like to call "The Cult of Celebrity". My vote for the worst actually would have gone to Phil who, while having a sweet back story with the birth of his kids and all, is quite a bore to watch, and he has those weird vocal moments where he sounds a bit Kermit the Froggish. Plus he chooses terrible songs. Also, while Chris Richardson's got the looks, the nasal character of his voice is really starting to irritate me--not to mention that he always has the same expression when he sings, which is to stare intently at the camera with both eyebrows arched as if frozen in time just before the 18-wheeler hits him. I actually wasn't all that surprised when he ended up in the bottom 2. I did feel bad for Stephanie, though. I think she has more vocal talent than all the guys, but she just wasn't thinking competitively with her song choices. Plus there are only so many soul divas to go around, and she had the weakest performance of them all. Still, I would have had Phil switch places with her so she could make the tour. Whoa, look at how much I've written on this topic. Pretty sad, hunh? Back to the term paper I go!
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Just passing through...
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Joined: 21 Mar 2007
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