Yeah, you and the hundreds of bloggers like you.
Anyway. Tangent.
Here's why I think I understand the mentality:
I watch a show called American Idol. Most people think this shocking since I value music. I think it is fun and good TV and there is nothing wrong with watching it. A lot of people, however, have been shaking their fists at Idol. "This show is rigged!" they say. "The producers do everything, not the judges and the voters! Why, what kind of mask are they trying to put on? Do they think we're idiots? This competition isn't solely based on talent like they say it is! They want the good-looking people!"
Well, no, they didn't think you were idiots before, but I think they do now.
See, I have been watching this show since the end of season 2. I can name you every winner & runner-up & recognize some obscure names some may never have even learned in the first place. I have no valid reason for this. I just really like it. I can also remember that there have been several contestants that said things like, "Well, I finally got through the producers this time to the TV judges", & there has been a disqualification for a contestant who knew people who worked for 19 Entertainment, the production company for Idol. The TV judges have turned away contestants because they didn't have the right look and said so out loud. They are constantly praising people for being "package artists". They say they want "the next American idol", not "the person in America who has the best voice". The show is called American Idol, not America's Best Singer.
Basically? It's not a secret that the producers are involved! Half the world knows this. I thought it was more, but apparently not. See, this is a TV show. Generally, TV shows want interesting people. If they get too many boring people, no one will want to watch it. So they have producers first pick, out of thousands, the people they want to be shown on TV. They pick the talented people they know the judges will love, and they pick the weirdos they know audiences will love to hate and mock. And can you imagine the TV judges going through all of those people in the stadiums?! It would take them WAY more than the 2 days they seem to have! Producers are hired for a reason! They don't just sit on their asses and let the Benjamins roll in. That's the executive producers' job, people! Get with it.
Then, when these people make it to TV, the judges decide if they are going to be marketable artists. Not if they just have talent. If they are marketable. Why do you think Simon Cowell is the judge that makes the most sense? He works in producing and scouting! He knows which people sell, & he makes a killing off the people he picks in England. (Leona Lewis, Il Divo, Escala...) They say it is a "singing competition" sometimes, true, because as far as the top 50, they usually don't have the gimmicks. This year was pretty much the exception with Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell and his hilarious antics. But they are still forever looking for the package artist.
Once the placement of the contestants is entirely in the voters' hands, however, it is most definitely not rigged. Here are several examples (which I am NOT being bitter about for those of you who think this part is the focus, which it is not at all):
- Taylor Hicks won season 5. What producers actually wanted him to win, honestly? Chris Daughtry was a shoo-in. If not him, then Katherine McPhee, who actually made it to the finals. But, nope! The Soul Patrol (aka his diehard fans) called in and crowned him king. And where is he now? Performing for fat housewives across the country in intimate shows after being dropped from a record label. Winner material? I think not.
- Sanjaya Malakar made it to 7th place. The whole country was up in arms. All the viewers wanted him OUT!... except for his fans who voted like maniacs! They're to blame for his placement, NOT the producers. Are the producers to blame for his placement into the top 24? Possibly. But the top 7?! I don't really think so...
- Simon Cowell did not like Kelly Clarkson, and he could pull some strings for SURE in the 1st season, since he was half the reason the show was brought to this country. He was a Tamyra Gray fan, as was most of the nation. While I did not watch season 1, every person I have spoken to that watched it (which is A LOT, let me tell you) told me that Tamyra being eliminated was beyond shocking. If the producers had any pull that far along, they would have made sure Tamyra won the whole thing.
- Michael Johns? 8th place?! Are you kidding? TV Guide had already written him up as being around for Neil Diamond who mentored the top 5, and they are solid partners with Idol. Clearly, if it had been up to the producers, he would have stuck around much longer.
- Do you realize how much they pimped out Adam Lambert?! How desperately they wanted America to just dial their hearts out for him? And yet, Kris Allen's little girls & wholesome-loving housewives beat them out with their determined nature. I really don't think Kris would have won if the producers had anything to do with it.
But these "bloggers", these arrogant people who think they're sooo smart, they ignore all the other claims and focus on the couple times Simon Cowell says "singing competition" and then pounce on the show, and then call themselves the only people in the nation with eyes. They focus on what they can pride themselves on to make them feel better, just like your average school bully does.
& here's my favorite part: they can all do something about it, you know. When David Archuleta is safe the night he flubs his lyrics, they could actually pick up the phone & vote for David Cook's "Eleanor Rigby" or Carly Smithson's "Come Together". If they want Adam Lambert to win so badly, they can dial his number and vote for him like they're supposed to. It's like when they whine about Bush so much and yet didn't vote because they wanted to stand up to the establishment (because their one non-vote counts as such a burn among the millions). Why whine about something that was almost totally in your control? Right, because you're not supposed to be watching Idol in the first place because it's just sooooo lame even though you secretly adore it. Right, arrogant people of America? Right?
I'm just sick of it. People need to stop being like hormonal females by twisting everything around to make themselves happy and look at the facts! It doesn't make anything better. Just let it be.
