The American people voted off my guy! Constantine! I can't believe it! So that was a weird "American Idol" tonight, and everyone can speculate about what kind of magic Scott has! I'm glad Vonzell survived -- too many black contestants in a row have gone home. But, damn! My Constantine is gone! I'm desolate!
UPDATE: Trey Jackson has the video of Constantine being told he's out, along with the lengthy response from Paula. Chez Althouse, our state of shock was broken by laughter at the sheer quantity of tears drenching Paula's face. Then Paula goes into the audience to comfort the Mother of Constantine. The pathos level at this point would have fit news that Constantine had died.
Cheer up, fans. Constantine is free! On Tuesday night, Simon ridiculed him for trying to be a rocker: when he came on the show he "crossed over to the dark side -- or the light side." Well, now the light side has tossed out rocker boy, and we shall see if the boy can rock.
Of course, there's still the other rocker boy left, and Bo is actually a sincerely serious rocker -- Constantine never was. (Which is what I most liked about him.) What's Bo supposed to do if Simon's right about rock and "Idol"?
And whom do I support now? I guess it's going to be Bo again. He was my favorite once, and I only abandoned him when Constantine openly embraced the light side by singing "I Think I Love You." But Constantine lost, if we're to believe Simon, when he tried to go back and be a fully serious rocker again.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Tim Harden thinks Constantine's mistake was song choice. Unlike me, Tim not only knew the song but was really sick of it, and so, presumably, were a lot of people. To me, everything sung on Tuesday night was crap, but crap that I wasn't familiar with, so I didn't have the extra irritant of having endured radio overplay to count extra against just one of the crap songs.
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They were all pretty bad last night. I honestly couldn't have blamed the public for voting off any one of those left.
I mean no offense, but it's hard for me to believe that actual adults, with jobs and stuff and maybe a mortgage and some credit card bills and maybe a child or two throwed in.....actually watch that show.
Especially since, I believe, that it comes on at about the same time as Leave it to Beaver.
Whatever happened to that mini-controversy that the voting was mainly done by adolescent boys who wrote programs that dialed in and voted freezing out other voters?
Dean: how can supporters of one contestant "freeze out" votes for another? Each contestant has a separate number. That said, there are speed dialers who can help the candidates they want get more votes. I just wonder what kind of people are supporting Scott. The thing is you need to win fans of the phone-dialing type (who maybe will also be CD buyers).
Me, I don't vote or buy pop music CDs. I don't really like much of the music on the show, and don't like any of the music on the show's CDs. The fact is, I don't much like the show. I just like to watch it, somehow. There are other shows that I think are good, but don't like to watch.
Thing is, to win this thing you don't just need fans; you need fans who are willing to dial till their fingers go numb--after all, the origin of "fan" is "fanatic," isn't it? Maybe that's the sort of person Scott attracts; maybe Constantine's fans are a bit saner and more laid back. Perhaps Constantine's fans also thought he was a sure thing, and so he slipped through. Now the show will become far more boring than before. Constantine was the only one with any pizazz, IMHO.
I have suspected from reading the AI boards early on that Scott would make the final three or four. It's a combination of "root for the underdog" and his obvious praying when the voting is being announced.
Simon is no doubt having nightmares about Scott winning. A million dollar record contract down the drain.
I wonder if it wasn't a combination of Constantine's bamd getting a record deal (therefore his voters knew he was going to be around regardless) and Simon's statements about Scott (which I agreed with) kicking in the underdog factor.
MY TAKE
I don't watch AI but
I know for a fact that there are a lot of anti-idol voters out there. These people vote for the "worst" performer, in their eyes. Secretaries in my office all talk about their kids in Jr. and Sr. High School that vote that way, just for kicks.
I will have to agree with Larry K and some others in that each Idol has a specific constituency. It was clearly obvious that Constantine and Bo share many of the same voters. After Constantine's miserable performance, some of those voters went to Bo. Here is my breakdown of the voters...
Anthony - young band boy types
Bo - Rocker/Progressive
Vonzell - Sophisticated/older/Quality/
Scott - Geeks/Anti-Voters
Carrie - Country/Quality
Noting these breakdowns, I would expect to see either Vonzell or Carrie get eliminated on the next Idol because both of them overlap in the same constituency of quality female vocals.
My theory is that Constantine was the first ironic candidate, and the fans don't want irony--they want a real "fake but accurate" Idol. Bo straddles the divide of light v. dark quite well--he's a good boy from the light side who sincerely (I think) digs his rock music.
I absolutely agree that Constantine was the first ironic candidate, and that switching back into "rock" just revealed the game too plainly for people. It reminded them, as well, that in that genre, Bo was better.
In a way, the same thing happened to Tamyra in season one. She had established her identity as a great classic pop interpreter on songs like "Minnie the Moocher," "If I Were Your Woman," "Touch Me In The Morning" and "A House Is Not A Home".
Then, when 80s/90s week came along, she tried Miss Patti LaBelle's "New Attitude", and it was a disaster -- she just couldn't do contemporary, up-tempo stuff credibly. And it killed her.
Was there anything about this joker that was real except his desire for adulation and getting laid?
Which would distinguish him from how many people in the music world, exactly?
When he performed "I Think I Love You", from the Patridge Family, how was that anything other than an ironic wink and a smile to say, "You want cheesy pop? Top this."
I agree jult52
Yeah, kinda like, M. Jagger, J. Morrison, S. Tyler, K. Rock, A. Rose etc etc etc
Preening, self-absorbed, average- voiced rockers...........never make it!
Adam: It's a fascinating variation on the old out-of-the box problem, oft-noted on Television Without Pity. They want you to get out of the box and then they punish you when you do it. You left the box. But Constantine got out of the box like mad and very successfully. Then, he wanted to say, hey, isn't it cute, me in my box again? I thought it was cute. I even loved kicking-the-camera move and the dorky running-all-over-the-stage gambit. But the voting audience does not appreciate the ironic, post-modern contestant. So now we must live out the rest of the season in leaden earnestness.
Constantine's only #1 fan: the only reason I'm not going to chide you for writing that in all caps is on the off chance that you're really Eggagog. I am Eggagog's only #1 fan.
jult52: I think you're way underthinking this. The whole point of watching "American Idol" -- as far as I'm concerned -- is to engage in mental play of this kind. And so what if he's a joker? I want my joker. My problem is that everyone left is leadenly earnest.
And let me add something no one's mentioned yet. A new theory. Maybe Constantine's fan base melted because they could not take the stunning challenge of contemplating his brother's amazing face. The most engaging aspect of the entire show on Tuesday and possibly of the entire season was the striking face of Constantine's brother!
If only he would marry Nadia and the two could have children together, we would have a chance to see the coolest looking people of all time.
Henny: Love the Star Search crack. You're so right!
I see The Smoking Gun is reporting a Bo problem. Maybe they'll kick out Bo and bring Constantine back. After all, they brought Nikki back when Mario left. Please, AI PTB: I want my Constantine back!
This discussion is pretty interesting because so many people think it was rigged because the votes didn't reflect their preferences.
This is like the 1st time America has agreed with me about American Idol (hated Fantasia- all she did was screech), so you get no sympathy! Stop yer whinin'! It is like listening to a bunch of liberals after Bush won!
"How could that happen? Nobody likes Scott Sonnon!"
"I don't know a single friend that voted for Nixon."
"Oh it is rigged by phone programs!"
"They disenfranchised minority voters!"
"I'm moving to Canada!"
"I'm not watching Idol again! Ever!"
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA!!! I love this show. I love this blog. I love America.
cheers!
harkonnendog
I thought Scott Sonnon, who I've consistently hated, sang a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics with a lot of emotion and it worked for me. Whereas Constantine, who I also have always hated, sang a great song that requires musical talent- not self-mocking irony and/or the ability to have eye sex with the camera.
Please, no more gratuitous swipes at Scott Sonnon, lest he come after us with a clubbell. Say what you like about Scott Savol, however.
whoops, lol.
I also initially liked Nadia, but then she lapsed into this mannered, lounge singer style, so every "I'm gonna..." sounded like she was clearing her throat of phlegm or toasting the wedding party with a "l'chaim gonna..."
American Idol finalist always wear big suits especially for the guy.
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