A number of those voting for Mr. Malakar may be genuine fans, many of them in the pre- and early-teenage brackets, to judge from posts on a number of Internet bulletin boards dedicated to the show.I'm one of those older women who support Sanjaya. I gave my reasons here. And I've got a sore spot -- (watch out!) -- about the interpretation of a vote. I've heard Nancy Pelosi, et al., assert way too many times that "the American people" -- (you know them) -- in voting in hundreds of congressional races, were specifically saying that Congress should end the war in Iraq.
But the fans also include older women and Indian-Americans, and Mr. Malakar’s progress is being tracked voraciously by Indian newspapers in both the United States and India.
And it's a bit irksome to take a sweet, young guy who is doing well and put a massive effort into trying to create the evidence that all his accomplishments signify badness. (You're like those teenagers who thought it would be great fun to elect Carrie the prom queen.)
Sanjaya has to work extremely hard and go out there and perform for millions of people, and you want him to be burdened by thinking everyone is just laughing at him.
They're all gonna laugh at you.
And here his is, the first Asian American to do really well. I'm surprised that Americans are gearing up to be so mean to someone from a minority group.
So, yeah, Glenn, I am pissed.
And you know how I get when I'm pissed. But you'll have to wait for my next "American Idol" vlog to witness the crazy Althousian fury.
Posts
61 comments:
Dating myself:
Jimmy Durante couldn't sing.
Satchmo couldn't sing.
But both were great entertainers.
Arguably, Sanjaya CAN sing... but no honest person can say he's not entertaining.
In the end this whole bruhaha will amount to nothing, because no guy can compete against the powerhouse gals in this competition.
Sheesh. Reminds me of a high school boy's basketball game, when the student fans would over-cheer the worst player on the bench whenever he got put in. On our team, he thought they liked him, but they were usually laughing at him. Yuck.
I didn't go out senior year because I was usually put in just before that guy, and couldn't bear the idea of that kind of cheering.
Let's hope there's no pig's blood in the final segment, making Sanjaya slam shut all the doors and start throwing people through the air.
Though that would be pretty cool to watch on the teevees.
Hung over a bit, Ann?
As you drive through Dallas, look for me. I'll be the one standing at the side of 35 holding up a sign that spells out -- in glitter -- "I (heart) Althouse Idol vlogging."
Kind of like us prissy, puritanical, prudish left wingers who make fun of fifty-something law professors who get so caught up in American Idol.
We're so mean!
The destruction of American Idol, which after all owes much of its popularity to the sheer pleasure it takes in the humiliation of people, will be a net benefit to American culture in general, and popular music in general.
Ann, when you get your mad on, then go on Bloggerheads -- with Sullivan!
So I guess this means that by Ann's standards Howard Stern is now prissy, puritanical and prudish because he hates American Idol and thinks anyone who likes it is stupid.
"...to witness the crazy Althousian fury."
The psychologically healthy-for-women-to-express-anger-in-a-direct-and-non-passive/aggressive-mannercrazy Althousian fury, might I remind your loyal readers.
A rare and beautiful thing to behold.
http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2007/03/women-anger-and-web.html
(1) The article said that Mr. Malakar “looks like a 1970s pop star of the David Cassidy/Bobby Sherman/Andy Gibb variety, ….” Let’s take a look. (Nice nipple!)
(2) If I were the scriptwriter for the real world, Howard Stern would get his comeuppance. But I’m not and he won’t.
(3) Hey, Greybeard, I see you’re a pilot. My dad was a pilot, too. He worked at the bakery. He’d take the bread from the oven and pilot on the table. (I know, I know, that’s an old joke. But I invented it. Way back in 1993. Ha!)
I have seen Sanjaya sing twice, I didn't like his version of the "You Really Got Me". I am fan of his sister, the former Hooters waitress. She is a stunning looking woman.
I don't vote, but my daughter does. Though she won't tell me who she is voting for
Ann Wrote: "And here his is, the first Asian American to do really well. I'm surprised that Americans are gearing up to be so mean to someone from a minority group."
So you are telling us we have to make special accommodations because he is a minority? His race never occurred to me. Besides Howard Stern, Joe Biden's 7-11 friends are doing level their best to keep him on the show too. Why should we act like racists to keep bad talent on the show? Kristi Yamaguchi is a great talent. btw she happens to be a minority.
Well Howard Stern is not quite the force he promotes himself to be. But anyway, Sanjaya has yet to face strong competition and serious voting pressure. Once the field gets narrowed he'll have a hard time being a goof ball and surviving.
Ann, you're going to create a whole new vortex here. ha ha
I hope Sanjaya has a brilliant career as a teen idol. He can then go to med school or law school and have a good life. He sings about as well as he needs to, doesn't he, and I enjoy him sticking it to the pseudo-sophisticated critics like (ugly and debatably talent-less) Howard Stern.
I agree with Ann. The American people have spoken. We need to remove Howard Stern from his job or at the very least defund his diabolical efforts.
Anagram for Nancy Pelosi; Spin one Clay.
Anagram for Ann Althouse; Anne lash out.
Anagram generator here
Oh, Ann. (Sigh).
This is not one of your stronger political points.
The reason we (or, as you said, Nancy Pelosi, et al.) can say with some authority that the American people voted for the Democrats, by and large, to end the war is because there has been an insane amount of polling that shows that the American people voted for the Democrats, by and large, to end the war.
There's no exit polling for American idol. So it's hard to complain that people are interpreting your votes in each of these situations in a way that makes them comparable to one another.
All this business reminded me yesterday of a scene from Private Parts--
Researcher: The average radio listener listens for eighteen minutes a day. The average Howard Stern fan listens for - are you ready for this? - an hour and twenty minutes.
Pig Vomit: How could this be?
Researcher: Answer most commonly given: "I want to see what he'll say next."
Pig Vomit: All right, fine. But what about the people who hate Stern?
Researcher: Good point. The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.
Pig Vomit: But... if they hate him, why do they listen?
Researcher: Most common answer: "I want to see what he'll say next."
Ironic, no? Stern and the AI producers have more in common than you might think, and both are tickled pink to have haters out there who are so invested in hating their shows.
That having been said, I still can't see how anyone could say Sanjaya has done well in any sense other than getting votes, largely through no fault or merit of his own. The attempt to make it all about sexuality and race is beyond far fetched. Do you honestly believe that a butch, white singer with similar flat affect, pitch problems and poor stagecraft would receive more support? Such a contestant would have a very similar support base, minus the south Asian contigent.
Oh, THAT Carrie. I thought you meant Carrie Underwood, and didn't get the prom reference.
The March 27 listings in TV Guide had a sidebar called, "Loss Leaders" about some of the people who haven't won on "American Idol." Excerpts:
Placing fourth on AI's fifth season hasn't kept Chris Daughtry from topping the charts with his debut CD (or outselling champ Taylor Hicks), and third-season diva Jennifer Hudson surely can't be too bent about getting the boot at seventh [she just won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Dreamgirls.]. ... Say what you will about Season 2's runnerup [Clay Aiken], but the kid's voice is crazy good. And his CD sales totally lap the guy who beat him."
Being the last one standing at the end of the season really doesn't mean that much.
Any sportsman would rather get into the Hall of Fame than win Rookie of the Year.
Actually makes me want to watch the show.
Season Three had a young pretty contestant (of Philippine descent)of Asian-American ancestry who made it to the top 3.
Come to think of it, maybe Sanjaya should take to wearing a hibiscus flower in his hair in tribute.
Jasmine Trias outlasted LaToya London and Jennifer Hudson, but couldn't get past Diana DeGarmo and Fantasia.
But Jasmine has released two albums since then, and been big in her native Hawaii as well as the Philippines, so she's doing all right, even if she ain't the best singer.
I'll leave it up to Ruth Anne(the official historian of Althousiana) to dig up what you said about Jasmine back then.
And then there's this (found via Andrew Sullivan).
The effort of Stern et al. has a silver lining of course. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Sanjaya's life is changed no matter what happens, and probably for the better.
As far as interpreting votes, I would guess most Democratic candidates espoused anti-war positions. When they get elected, it's a reasonable inference the people who voted for them at least are not opposed to and probably support the pre-election position. Don't both parties do this? What's the big deal?
Ann, please forgive if this is a bit off topic, but your comment about Pelosi raised this thought for me: I think one of the reasons the left blogosphere doesn't like you is because even though you take a lefty position on most issues, for some reason you tweak the left more (usually accurately) with your sort of contrarian/clever little jabs. In their view of course, the right deserves this so much more because the right is "wrong" on the issues. It's maddening to them. It's like you're a traitor.
XWL: Althouse regarding Jasmine. And the lack of her magic flower.
Mrs. Margaret White regarding acne: "Pimples are the Lord's way of chastising you."
I swear you oughta have a tag for "bodily fluids."
I have to ask, however, if AI doesn't bring this on in part themselves.
The whole show is about cruelty and humiliation. The auditions are staged to weed out the mediocre and the people who are deliberately bad. They let the good ones and the truly clueless through so the latter can be mocked, especially by Simon. It is nothing but sadism.
Even after the preliminaries, much of the show revolves around emphasizing the cattiness by both the judges and the contestants themselves. The performances themselves are secondary. It is high school cliques raised to a national embarrassment.
Is it any wonder that Howard Stern, our national high school troublemaker and class clown, is trying to set off a stink bomb at the prom. He is not trying to elect Carrie, he is trying to save her from the humiliation all the cool kids are planning by ruining their party as a way of pointing out what creepy assholes they all are.
Count me as one of the horrible cynics who hopes for the delegitimization of 'the karaoke competition that has swept the nation'. Any show that has found a way to stamp Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson into the national conscious deserves a long and painful death.
Some people think Sanjaya is divine.
Off Topic: Memo to Glenn and Dr. Helen, ditch all your "non-stick" cookware.
So, Glenn bragged about using dangerous teflon-coated pans in his blog. "Hard-annodized" aluminum is nothing more than glorified teflon, and we all know those non-stick pans cause Alzheimers. It's a proven fact. Who knows what other dangers lurk with non-stick cookware. I wouldn't be surprised if it was on of the contributing factors of Dr. Helen's heart attack.
Hey Glenn: Non-stick is for wimps. Both Glenn and Dr. Helen think they are so trendy because they use Cuisinart non-stick. Ha! 18/10 stainless-steel rules, and doesn't cause Alzeheimers.
Go here: www.all-clad.com
It's a proven fact.
Gee Maxine, you sure are selective about the "facts" you believe and the standard of proof you find acceptable. Schizophrenia, no such thing. Teflon causes Alzheimer's, absolutely no doubt about it.
So, yeah, Glenn, I am pissed.
That's my gal. I like a woman who admits when she's drunk!
(It's a language thing.)
Ha! 18/10 stainless-steel rules, and doesn't cause Alzeheimers.
And not only that, steel is demonstrably inferior to aluminum (which btw was what I thought was the cause of Alzheimers) because it spreads heat less evenly. If you are afraid of aluminum and teflon and want really good cookware then you would use copper-clad steel or cast iron.
1. She doesn't know how to conjugate the verb "to drink" . It's "Wine drank" Drinked? Drinken?
It seems to me if she simply abstained altogether, conjugation--among other things wouldn't be a problem.
I've noticed the dark circles, bags? under the eyes. Alcohol does absolutely nothing one's complexion.
Peace, Maxine
Oh, copper is the worst thing in the world. It rusts, and then you have all that copper residue in your food.
Stainless-steel is the very best. 18/10 is considered surgical grade stainless steel.
It's what surgeons use. If it's good enough for them, it must be fab for cooking.
By the way: steel doesn't melt in extreme heat. Don't believe what Rosie says. The velocity and weight of the jets weekened the girders. It had nothing to do with the steel itself. Stainless steel is wonderful. ALCOA built my house, and literally, single-handedly, brought our country out of the Depression in the 1920s, or 1930s, whenever the Depression was.
Peace, Maxine
"'By promoting Mr. Malakar', Mr. Stern says, 'he hopes to turn the talent competition into a farce and destroy its popularity.'" - Edward Wyatt, from the NYT Television Section, on line.
What a pathetic, jaded creep.
Wyatt, too, for giving Stern credibility.
"I'm surprised that Americans are gearing up to be so mean to someone from a minority group."
Why the surprise?
It should be no big deal that Americans are being 'mean' to someone from a minority group.
It would be a big deal if they were being 'mean' to someone for being from a minority group.
And it should be (but wouldn't be) a big deal if they were NOT being 'mean' to someone merely because he was from a minority group.
But if they are treating him just like they would treat any other over-his-head-non-talent who has a lot of goofball in him regardless of his color, then the only question is over if it is proper to be 'mean' at all. Since you seemed to have an affinity for Borat, I am the one who is surprised if you had a problem with that.
Christy:
When did schadenfreude become part of the American identity?
At minimum, since soap operas began, some time in the 1920's I would imagine. ;-)
"Sanjaya has to work extremely hard and go out there and perform for millions of people, and you want him to be burdened by thinking everyone is just laughing at him."
Isn't that pretty much the definition of being a celebrity? Why should this guy be any different?
Hint: If you don't want people to laugh at you, don't go on reality tv, tv talent hunts and especially don't go on reality tv talent hunts.
It's what surgeons use. If it's good enough for them, it must be fab for cooking.
No steel is good for blades because it holds an edge. It is bad for cooking because it doesn't conduct heat as well as copper or aluminum, so you get uneven heating and hot spots. That's why they don't make electrical wire out of steel but do out of copper and aluminum (aluminum wire has other problems but it is a fine conductor), electrical conductivity and heat conductivity are closely related. Copper does impart a bad taste on some foods, especially acidic ones, and it is a very soft metal, that's why they clad the bottom of the pot in copper but the actual cooking surface is steel.
Oh, and btw, ALCOA stands for ALuminum COmpany of America. Also, the compressive strength of steel will deteriorate rapidly when exposed to fire. Then it will begin to bow and fail.
But silver is da best.
Haven't pulled out my thermodynamics book, but I think gold cookware might actually be even be a little bit better than silver.
"...to witness the crazy Althousian fury."
...that sounds one of them ancient Dionysian sex-frenzy things you read about in all the best guide books but never quite come across in modern Greece.
Hmmmm...and well a man may dream of such a fury - all flouncy blonde hair and flashing teeth. All pain, all gain.
[Man overcome and faints. Secretary completes post.]
Dylan said...
"The reason we (or, as you said, Nancy Pelosi, et al.) can say with some authority that the American people voted for the Democrats, by and large, to end the war is because there has been an insane amount of polling that shows that the American people voted for the Democrats, by and large, to end the war."
I guess those people must be by and large kinda pissed, that the Democratic Congress they apparently sent to Washington to end the war have essentially refused to end the war. ;) Indeed, they must be furious that Steny Hoyer has ruled out using Congress' available tools to end the war.
Still, I find it a little surprising that you're conceding that, by-and-large, the public weren't angry enough at the avarice and corruption of the GOP-controlled congress, concern over civil liberties, the NSA program, White House incompetence over Katrina, and so forth. No, they were just thinking of the war; those issues had only incidental effect on the election. Right?
big old copper cored pan...
...Copper [pots] for the kitchen, silver [sex toys] for the bedroom but gold [taps] for the bathroom.
Didn't your Gran'ma ever teach you that?
Anagram for Ann Althouse; Anne lash out
Just tried that anagram generator thing, it's brilliant:
'Tony Blair' = 'Lying deluded f*ckwit that you [me] were were dumb enough to vote for in '97.'
That's better than a quantum gravity computer - and if you don't know what a QGC is then you've not recently spent a lonely night in a hotel away on business with nothing to read but a copy of 'New Scientist'.
No Althousian fury to distract and entertain that night sadly.
If it were gold, it would be a substantial portion of my net worth
Of course, the problem with both silver and especially gold cookware (aside from the sheer cost and fragility) would be the weight.
silver [sex toys]
Actually, pyrex is the best.
Haven't had time to read all the comments (always dangerous when commenting, I know), but I have been thinking that Sanjaya's popularity most likely has more to do with actual fans who want to see him do well than with just the "vote for the worst" crowd.
I lived in Hawaii when Jasmine Trias was on Idol and stayed week after week even though she wasn't very good. People in Hawaii loved her and wanted her to do well and kept calling for a long time. Whether she was good or not.
"Vote for the worst"...maybe that explains the November election.
No, Maxine, it definitely should not have been "Wine drank," let alone drinked or drinken. Alcohol or no alcohol, Ann does not have a conjugation problem.
I'll grant that it was an awkward construction. But Ann wasn't using "to drink" in the past tense ("I drank my wine. . . .") She was using it in a contracted form of what I think is the present perfect tense: "Having drunk my wine . . . "
Here's a link to a page that will teach you everything you need to know about the conjugation of wine consumption. Thank heavens, it does not try to address the causes of Alzheimers:
http://www.mtannoyances.com/?p=397
Copper is wrong. Althouse uses stainless steel in her kitchens, always.
18/10 surgical grade, plus it's stainless, so it will not stain.
ALCOA, forever!
Peace, Maxine
silver [sex toys]
Actually, pyrex is the best.
....depends entirely if you're cooking with gas or 'lectric.
Isn't Althouse able to drive and blog at the same time? How difficult can it be? Can't she affix the laptop on the dashboard and simublog the actual driving experience, complete with lane changes.....I personally would like to see how she merges, and her blinker skills.
Does she sound the horn while going around a blind curve. Does she use her fog lights in an appropriate matter?
This is all grist for the blogmill and I'm surprised Althouse hasn't jumped on it.
Peace, Maxine
Re Maxine's comment - I contemplated mounting a microphone on the dash of my van with the intention of podcasting about the FedSoc symposium in Chicago while I was on the road. Wouldn't have worked out (too much to talk about), but might have been fun.
Teflon is perfectly safe unless you're retarded:
Teflon begins to deteriorate after the temperature of cookware reaches about 500 °F (260 °C), and begins to significantly decompose above 660 °F (350 °C). By comparison, cooking fats, oils and butter will begin to scorch and smoke at about 392 °F (200 °C), and meat is usually fried between 400–450 °F (200–230 °C), but hot spots in the pan can easily exceed this temperature.
In other words, if your pan is that hot, you've most likely seriously screwed up.
Teflon is truly nonstick and cheap. I have 2: one for omelets and one for bigger batches of scrambled eggs. Other than the occasional grilled cheese, that's the only thing I use nonstick pans for. Since I buy them cheap, it's easy to replace them every year or if they get scratched--whichever happens first.
As far as 18/10 stainless steel goes, if it isn't fully cladded it also isn't rated for over 500 degrees. There's some excellent 18/10 stainless steel sets on the market, but pay attention. All-Clad makes Emeril's cookware, but it isn't cladded, so keep it cool.
For a great deal on cladded cookware, I'd recommend this Cuisinart set. It's fully cladded at a fraction of the cost of All-Clad. Get this, a couple of cast iron pans, and a cheap teflon skillet for eggs, and you're good to go.
Aluminum is also good, but doesn't work well with acids (tomato sauces), and isn't as durable as steel. But it has better heat distribution, it's lighter, and cheaper. In the end use whatever works for you.
Bill, I second the recommendation on the Cuisinart cookware. I've had mine for about 8 years now and it's fantastic. Funny to read this whole thread and come across my own pots and pans. Weird world!
Simon said...
Re Maxine's comment - I contemplated mounting a microphone on the dash of my van with the intention of podcasting about the FedSoc symposium in Chicago while I was on the road. Wouldn't have worked out (too much to talk about), but might have been fun."
Please confine yourself to walking and chewing gum.
As to anything with instantaneous public feedback (AI), it is ripe for rigging. Remember back a bit with the flooding the phone lines issues and therefore blocking out a number of expected calls.
Simon's catty little remarks about Pelosi fails (as usual) to take into account that people had time to think and consider a vote, a fair amount of time at the voting station to vote, no audience simultaneously cheering for the candidate to spur on the vote etc. and no counter slate of AI candidates hellbent on obstructing the will of majority.
Then again, what every kid outside some black, rural community's kids knew - how miraculous modern electricity is made with force, directional motion, conductors, resistors. and electromagnetic forces is now something 90% of Chinese or Polish kids can well articulate - but less than 10% of American kids now can explain.
This blatantly racist comment not true on so many levels. Science education in this country has never infiltrated beyond a small elite, even during our brief golden age during the fifties through the seventies. Rural whites are and were just as ignorant as rural blacks. My ex-wife's father grew up in a house without electricity or running water in rural Tennessee and never made it past the sixth grade. He was born in 1940.
As for Poland or China, again, simply a lie, especially in China. China, for all its recent economic explosion is still a desperately poor country where the vast majority of the population (say a billion out of its 1.3 billion people) is desperately poor and probably worse of economically than they were 20 years ago. While the cities have prospered, the rural areas have languished.
David53: The official Ann Althouse anagram is: Nun's Oath Ale. I'm looking for the right partner to go into the brewery business. With my new web-wide reputation as a drinker and a angry woman, it's perfect!
^ The next time I do a round of homebrew, I know what to call it. ;)
HDhouse, you're an idiot; I didn't make any "catty remarks" about Pelosi, I noted that Dylan's playing up the role of the war as a decisive issue necessarily limits the role played by other events in the preceding two years. If he's fine conceding that the Bush administration's handling of Katrina, for example, played little or no role in sweeping the GOP out of control of Congress, that's fine, but what he can't do is come back later and say "the midterms were a repudiation of the NSA program," or whatever.
Freder, since you're clearly convinced that socialism hasn't worked in China, why are you so keen to impose it here?
Freder, since you're clearly convinced that socialism hasn't worked in China, why are you so keen to impose it here?
I don't know where you ever got the idea I was a socialist or that I want to impose it here. What I am not is a laissez faire capitalist. In your world, that apparently constitutes socialism.
Simon bloviated..."HDhouse, you're an idiot; ...I noted that Dylan's playing up the role of the war as a decisive issue necessarily limits the role played by other events in the preceding two years."
Iraq is Bush's ongoing disaster. It in no way limits his multitude of prior disasters, Katrina being just another one of many.
Bush is so astoundingly inept that he, too, should be on AI...and I would torture him every week by making him win and keeping him in the role of the pathetic contestant week after week. Unless of course you, Simon, wish to relinquish your pathetic status here for that position.
Katrina being just another one of many.
Thats another lie. The fault for New Orleans rest squarely on the shoulders of Gov Blanco and Mayor Nagin. They had a similar Hurricane a year prior, along with an after action report that predicted all the problems highlighted during Katrina - they ignored it.
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