With 6 left and 2 going down, 100 million votes are cast, and 2 white males go down. Time to be proud of America as the 3 black women survive and 2 white guys have to leave. One of them, Phil, did a great job last night. I thought he'd make it, and he deserved to make it. Chris, I knew he'd reached the end. But I thought Phil would survive and Jordin, LaKisha, or Melinda would go, but all 3 of them made it. I feel a little bad about Phil, but more than that, I feel good that with 3 black women in the final 6 and 2 going down tonight that all 3 black women made it. Nice showing, America! And who's that other person? It's Blake. A white guy. My personal favorite, but nevertheless, I want the record to show that America voted and kept 3 black women in the final 4. That means something.
ADDED: To understand my point, remember in the third season, when it was down to the final 7, the 3 black women -- who, I think, were the 3 best singers on the show -- got voted into the bottom 3. This was the episode when "America" voted off Jennifer Hudson, the young woman who went on to win the Oscar for her performance in "Dreamgirls." There was a lot of talk at the time that Americans were not voting fairly. Now, the voting system is complex, and people cast more votes when they think their favorite is in danger, so even then, some of the charges of racism went too far. But, traditionally, over all the seasons, we've seen white male singers stay on the show when superior black female singers have been voted off. That did not happen last night.
May 2, 2007
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One thing it means to me is that the three young black women are very good. And all three seem mature, grounded, show joy in their singing, and have very pleasant public personalities.
Their parents should be very proud.
"Time to be proud of America as the 3 black women survive and 2 white guys have to leave."
I refuse to be proud for that reason.
I will be kinda sorta proud because I believe the four contestants who have been most consistently good this year, and the four contestants who have the highest upside, are the final four. Even though they weren't the four best last week.
My prediction- LaKisha goes next, followed by Jordin, with the final coming down to if Blake comes up with a really great last performance or not.
I'm completely confused. "That means something." What does it mean?
Time again for white guys to collectively feel bad for daring to excel, and then deserving to get shot down. Al Sharpton must be proud.
I'm confused also. Why does it mean something?
I'm sensing some sarcasm...
Does this have something to do with the article about NBA foul calls in the times?
I think she's saying that in her eyes if any one of the black women had been voted off in favor of any of those white guys then America would've been shown up again to be a country of racist crackers. But she's gonna give America a one week reprieve on that. Right Ann?
The only reason I watched was because I wanted to see Bon Jovi and hear him sing. I didn't much like the song the band sang tonight, and I thought Phil, who went out singing Blaze of Glory, was the best of the night.
I'm not an Idol watcher, so here's a question. Phil's exit video seemed scripted towards his leaving. I thought who gets booted is supposed to be a surpise. Did he know in advance?
What it shows is that the American public (especially the generation most likely to be watching American Idol in large numbers) are colorblind. That's good.
Unfortunately, not all of America is as colorblind. The problem comes up when you point out that many more (percentage-wise) African-Americans still live in lousy crime ridden neighborhoods, have kids who attend lousy schools, have high unemployment and a higher rate of not being insured, and more to the point propose trying to do anything to change the situation, and then some who claim that the race problem has been 'solved' show their true 'colors' and do everything they can to block any attempt to correct the physical, tangible inequities that still exist in society.
I really don't think it means anything except that the three women are the best singers. All three of them are certainly far better than Phil or Chris. (Although it's been great to watch Phil get better and better each week -- I thought he'd earned another week Tuesday night, but what do I know?) Turning to race as any part of the explanation for a competitor staying or going at this stage is like turning to global climate change for an explanation of today's temperature in my town. There are just way, way too many other factors in play.
As for Blake, he's a shiny novelty, but there's no there there. He sings passably but without feeling. Once the surprise of the beatboxing wears off, and all that's left is the robotic delivery, the blank face, and the ordinary voice, he'll be forgotten. I hope he's next to go.
Blake is white? Male? And he still hasn't been voted out?
Shame on you, America.
We should all vote for Barak Obama to rid us of our racism.
If we do not elect him, our legacy of shame will go on forever.
My second grader recently brought home a survey from her elementary school which wants to know how well it's doing.
The top of the form says, "We do need to know the grade(s) and ethnicity of the respondents in order to ensure adequate responses from all our communities."
At the bottom of the form one can mark "African American, Asian, Caucasian, Latino, Other."
We've all gotten very used to this, haven't we? There's not one "community" of students. There are many, and that's how we need to think of each other, not as Americans, but as various ethnic groups with competing interests.
Statistics of small numbers
talkleft is correct - that was a pretty good way to walk out - although I was wondering if it was karaoke time - was it live or was it memorex?
It's fairly difficult to make a case for any kind of racism in season three, since Fantasia won -- and if anything, at least by liberal identity politics qualifications, Fantasia was by far the "most authentic" black contestant.
I now hate Blake even more intensely than before, and that's saying something.
I get it! The post about posting only when you have something interesting to say was a joke!!!
"That means something." Yeah right.
"That means something."
??
I frankly do not understand why this high tech version of Ted Mack's Amateur Hour seems to have the fan following it does--but you can't argue with audience share. More evidence of the decline of western civilization.
Having been around here, I understand the point you are making because you've posted and commented about it.
It was shocking (in AI terms anyway) what happened with Jennifer Hudson, it was clearly a split voting demographic that cost her.
Melinda is the best singer, but she is devoid of personality. She also bugs me with the constant suprised look of "you mean I reall did good?"
That leaves Blake as the best and the likely winner. Blake and Chris were getting their votes from the same pool, now Blake will get all of Chris's votes for the remainder of the show. Blake will be safe up to the final 2.
it will come down to Melinda vs. Blake and Blake will win.
I want the record to show that America voted and kept 3 black women in the final 4. That means something.
And in the addendum:
To understand my point, remember in the third season, when it was down to the final 7, the 3 black women -- who, I think, were the 3 best singers on the show -- got voted into the bottom 3. This was the episode when "America" voted off Jennifer Hudson, the young woman who went on to win the Oscar for her performance in "Dreamgirls." There was a lot of talk at the time that Americans were not voting fairly.
America (or more precisely, the AI voting audience) didn't vote Jennifer Hudson off. The failed to vote her ON. The point of the AI voting system isn't to vote people off - that's Survivor's gimmick. As has been pointed out, the three female black singers most likely split the demographic in season three - and the AI voters didn't fully understand at that time that they are voting people ON, not OFF! The voters understand that better now, and I imagine that an analysis would show that more poeple vote for multiple singers now than in season three, especially for the last few rounds of voting.
If it were a contest of voting people off, singers such as Sanjaya wouldn't stand a chance. (I imagine Constantine would have also been booted much earlier, and Bucky, too.)
BTW, WTF is Robin Thicke?
Just damn near anything, including the blue screen I get when my cable goes out, would have been better. My testosterone level dropped in half before I could get it off of there. Teach me not to TiVo.
How about analyzing this using Occam's Razor: people are quirky and over time the statistics tend to balance out?
I don't think Blake will win, but I think he has the best shot at a real career. He's a musician, while the others are just singers.
This is indeed quite a milestone: white America has proven -- at long last! -- that it will accept blacks as entertainers.
Folks, can we please start celebrating unity instead of diversity for a change. Frankly, I'm pretty tired of knowing how diverse people are. That doesn't matter to me anymore. What matters now, more than ever, is how united we can be instead. Color is irrelevant in this regard, it's based on talent, but like human nature being what it is, popularity is the criteria by which one chooses an American Idol.
It's not the color of the skin that splits the vote, it's the genre of the singer. This year, the 3 remaining black ladies all have different styles (Jordin = pop, Malinda = R&B, Lakisha = Gospel). Chris and Phil were both voted off because they split the vote with their style being similar, not because they were both 'generic white guys'.
All I know is, this is the first season that features a contestant whose music I could picture myself buying. I pulled for Taylor last year, mainly because he was the most interesting - but I don't listen to his style of music. But Blake has been the first contestant to pick more than a song or two outside of mainstream pop/r&b genres (who else would pick Keane or The Cure?). I'm pulling for him because I think he could actually produce some interesting music.
And to those who see American Idol as a sign of the decline of civilization - get over yourselves. I know it's intellectually trendy, but it's incredibly cliche. You've got 200 other channels to choose from, most of them showing filth far more mindless than a talent show. Learn to pick your battles.
I'm a bit baffled by the claim that the three female singers are good. Jordin is, and always has been, dreadful. LaKisha is completely inconsistent and boring.
But this isn't about talent anyway; it's a gimmick to sell records and commercials.
The voting is a popularity contest where everyone is trying to game the system. The end result are having people like Justin Guarini in the final two when Tamrya Gray was not only clearly more talented at the time, but has gone on to prove it.
(I think it's fairly obvious that Taylor Hicks won because a large group of people succeeded in gaming the system. The irony is that it left Chris Daughtry contractually free to obtain the success he now has.)
"But, traditionally, over all the seasons, we've seen white male singers stay on the show when superior black female singers have been voted off."
I'm struggling to think of an example that fits this description, other than John Stevens lasting a week longer than Jennifer Hudson in season 3 (and he was eliminated before Latoya, Jasmine, and Fantasia).
Was Paris better than Daughtry, or Yamin, or Hicks? Was Vonzell better than Bice? Kim Locke better than Aiken?
I think the best example of a black woman getting screwed was Tamyra, but the three who remained that week were Kelly (who was better), Nikki (a white woman, who had her best week as it happened that week), and Guarini (a non-white male).
Are we going to continue to judge these proceedings by how dark their skin is? Jordin is lighter than Melinda who's lighter than LaKisha. Is that the order they'll finish in? We can take this to ridiculous lengths.
I thought the results were correct too but "black" had nothing to do with it.
When will we be allowed to let go of "white guilt?" and not be accused of racism every time we don't vote the black way?
I'm tired, we're all Americans, all equal, quit apologizing for being white.
Before they went to the final 24, the last guy cut was a black guy who was fantastic. He was cut in favor of one of the looser white boys that populated the finals this year. I don't remember the guy's name, but I think he could have won had he not been cut.
"When will we be allowed to let go of "white guilt?" and not be accused of racism every time we don't vote the black way?"
I agree--or have the first response to any mass killing like VT be an accusatory "I hope there's no backlash," meaning "I hope white folks don't go nuts and kill a bunch of hyphenated Americans."
I'm not exactly sure why people continue to assert that Blake is such an excellent musician. Once could argue that he is a semi-capable arranger, but as an interpreter and performer, he's a bust, a robot.
As a singer, I take umbrage at this idea that you are less than a musician than people who write and/or arrange their own music.
I'm heartbroken that Phil is gone, but take solice in the fact that Melinda has a good chance of winning. She may be non-controversial, but she brings the heat
As a singer, I take umbrage at this idea that you are less than a musician than people who write and/or arrange their own music.
As a singer, you are a player of an instrument - your voice. As a singer/composer/arranger, he plays an instrument, he writes the music and he arranges music written by others. How is he not more of a musician?
Even within the realm of just-singers, there are obviously gradations. Look at someone like Phil who has a great voice, and sings well but doesn't really bring much to the table besides the singer he's emulating, and probably sings any given song the same way each time he sings it. Then, you have singers like (can't think of anybody on AI) Jason Mraz who "play" each song they sing completely differently.
I think it's a fair statement.
There is more to being an idol than being a stout black chic with a the lungs to crank up the decibels and able to hit notes as instructed.
It's not about, as Cowell claimed to early entrants, "all about the singing ability". It is about marketability, music purchaser support, a unique style and musical ability past being able to bellow out gospel louder and better than someone else.
Melinda has a taint of phonyness to her "surprise" that after the 13th song we hear she nailed that she is "really good"....but the bitch can sing. Every syllable is crystal clear. Gladys Knight or Dinah Washington potential.
Jordin butchered Bon Jovi and was almost as horrible the week before. She survives as young and charismatic.
LaKisha should have been gone for past weeks, but keeps reminding some who would never pay to see her or buy a CD that she can really bellow it out.
Blake has that creativity, originality - that makes people think he can sell music as good or better than Melinda.
I look for him to do well and maybe face Melinda in the finals. Melinda is gifted. Blake the whole package. Some of the best idols in music don't even make the top 100 singers of any decade.
And Phil. He left with distinction. He nailed his last two sessions, top 2 or top 3 - but it wasn't enough. He really came up, though, and Nosferatu might make it like Blake and Melinda will - and Jordin with 30 shed pounds and some seasoning might.
I'm not sure why spitting into a microphone and wiggling your butt around is considered "original," much less interesting or tolerable. And yes, Blake is white. Male? Only if you use a biological definition.
"Time to be proud of America as the 3 black women survive and 2 white guys have to leave."
Are you just... massively retarded?
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