Thursday, August 22, 2002
Idol Controversy
The viewing public threw the biggest curve ball last night by allowing Tamyra Gray to leave American Idol over Nikki McKibbin. Now, twelve hours later, the controversy hasn't died down. The reasons for the elimination are varied and all disturbing. Tamyra was voted off because she is black. The gay-bashers who hate Justin voted for Nikki to get him voted off. The show is rigged - by Fox, the sponsors, by show executives. Nikki supporters cheat by using high-speed modems to vote thousands of times.
Overall it makes me sad. This show was supposed to be a pleasant summer diversion to watch 10,000 hopefuls sing their hearts out to garner a recording contract and a chance at a music career. It's been a afascinating ride, but the fans have taken it to a new level, one that in my opinion is not healthy. Rather than voting solely on talent, people are more wont to make personal attacks. Kelly haters call her fat (?!), rascists denounce Tamyra, gay-bashers pile on Justin (even though no one has ever stated his sexual orientation) and anti-Nikki groups call her 'gold-digging gutter trash'. Is this was the spirit of competition has become in America? It's pretty disgusting.
I for one don't really care anymore who wins the competition. Each of the final three has a unique look, style, and vocal style. Some have more in one of these areas than the others. All of them have the potential to be big stars, depending on the material they are given, the coaching and studio support they receive. With the exception of Nikki, who needs a little more work than the others, they are all guaranteed to get some sort of reording contract. And even if they only get the chance to record one cd, they will get the chance to prove themselves then to be 'American Idols'. Heck, even those already voted off have the chance to do that in the wave of AI products coming soon!
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