Post-show Mega Analysis
The Top 10 Most Controversial Moments This Year!
10. Idol changes semi-final rounds. Instead of 4 groups of semi-finalists, we got 12 boys and 12 girls, eventually ending up with 6 boys and 6 girls in the finals. The wildcard show was scrapped. This was the first clear sign of this year's manipulations as it guaranteed equal representation of the sexes regardless of talent. It was quite possible that the boys could have dominated the finals in the old format, or given the lack of boys in last year's competition, it just simply guaranteed more of them. Take your pick, but quite simply, Idol got the equal number of sexes they wanted whether or not the voters wanted it.
9. New Lows in Elimination Cruelty. The thought is good: you get eliminated and you sing your heart-out as a farewell so people will remember you. During the first elimination of the semi-finals however, in an attempt for drama, the producers made the mistake of making the contestants feel so bad, none of them wanted to sing. Moreover, probably one of the nicest contestants this year, Judd Harris, was "duped" into thinking he was safe when told to "have a seat" and then unceremoniously eliminated when none of the remaining contestants were eliminated. The backlash was palpable immediately after the live show was aired and during the next two shows there was no more singing and the results show was shortened back to 30 minutes.
8. Paula Abdul's Hit and Run. Paula gets charged with a hit and run case, and due to some strange behavior this year during the show such as spontaneously dancing to any beat that she hears, gets rumored to be a serious druggie. This forces her to admit to debilitating "pain problem" she has been having on her neck for many years which she had to take a lot of medication for.
7. Votes Scrapped! The "numbers guy" puts up the wrong numbers on the screen for the Idols on Finals Week 2. After the west coast stops voting, Idol decides to scrap everything and announces a revote the next day. Despite my first full blast effort at pimping for two days, Mikalah still gets eliminated.
6. Bo Bice and drugs. The Smoking Gun uncovers documents showing Bo Bice getting arrested twice for cocaine and marijuana possession as early as two years ago. It also said however that Bo completed a mandatory drug diversion program and had the cases dismissed. I personally didn't care about this, but to some viewers this was a factor in their Idol selection process. "I don't want my daughter to look up to a hippie!" etc. etc. blah blah blah
5. Scott Savol: Public Enemy #1. Scott Savol officially becomes the person we just hate on the show. The Smoking Gun releases documents showing a "domestic violence" incident with his ex-wife and a rogue group of Idol viewers on votefortheworst.com select him as their poster child. Though admittedly there are Scott fans out there, more people hated him as he progressed. Case in point: There is no dedicated fan site out there for Scott. Having Scott reach the Top 5 was actually entertaining as it kept audiences guessing if he will leave or not, but how he got there is anybody's guess.
4. Constantine Gets Eliminated Before Scott. This arguably, aside from the finals, was the height of the show. Nothing like a clear cut favorite getting eliminated before the least favorite. American Idol has this down to an art-form, and this year was the best since they had a perfect foil in Scott, who they knew almost everybody did not like. It happened with Tamyra and to a lesser extent (yes I am biased) LaToya/Jennifer. This may prove to be a blessing for Constantine since he will be dearly remembered for his "surprise" elimination. Not surprisingly, interest for the show went up the following week to see if Scott would survive. When he didn't, interest faded the week after.
3. Mario Quits! It may seem like a distant memory now, but this was the biggest news for the show when it happened. One of the favorites to actually win, Mario Vazquez, withdraws two days before the first Finals show, prompting Nikko Smith to replace him. The undisclosed personal reasons that Mario gave for quitting was subject to much speculation which included his homosexuality (don't you just love how I just wrote that a matter of factly), an appearance in the Michael Jackson trial and a secret record deal with P. Diddy. The news was big enough to land Mario a spot on Letterman's Top Ten List, but sadly, that was the last we heard of Mario Vaz-kwez.
2. Paula's Sex Scandal. ABC decides to get their share of FOX's thunder by taking on Corey Clark from Season 2 who has a CD and book to peddle. In a nutshell, Corey said that he and Paula had sex many times and she bought him a phone and clothes, and gave him song choice advise. It's a he said-she said situation, although Paula's ill-advised voice-mail to Corey telling not to say anything was very juicy. Aside from that, just another Idol-dropout trying to get back his 15 minutes of fame. Of course, it's pretty much over the second time around isn't it Corey? Slimeball.
And the number #1 most controversial moment is:
This show is rigged! In many ways, this year was the perfect show and ultimately, they got a "perfect" American Idol in Carrie Underwood. The clever manipulations were a bit transparent this year and now that its over we can all have a better assessment of what we just went through. It all started with the auditions, when some "favorites" were given more airtime than the others to cultivate their fanbases. With the exception of Bo Bice, the rest of the Top 6 (Carrie, Constantine, Anthony, Vonzell and even Scott) had some sort of short personality feature during the auditions. The producers knew (or picked) who would be the stars of this show from the very beginning. It's no wonder the semi-finalists rebelled. The bombshells from the Smoking Gun were also perfectly timed, it just did wonders for the show. The unexpected stuff like the quitting and the sex scandal just helped the ratings, but ultimately Idol is still in control. The succession of elimination followed a steady beat, specially with the placement of contestants in the Bottom 3. This is always a pet peeve of mine since this is the part which is the most arbitrary. For example, it should be statistically impossible for someone like Anwar to be in the Bottom 2 then to disappear from the Bottom 3 completely for two weeks, then get eliminated the next time he reaches the Bottom 3. It is unlikely that Anwar's fans who supposedly came to his rescue when he reached the Bottom 2, suddenly abandon him three weeks later. His elimination also suggested extreme fluctuations in the voting patterns of the fans of Bo, Nadia, Scott, Nikko and Anthony which again I believe was unlikely. You get eliminated when it is most dramatic, logical or honorable (so you can literally sing the show out on a good note). After watching this for three years, the patterns are too clear to ignore. Heck, I should apply to be writer on this show. I could write the most dramatic season yet. Nevertheless, I'm all for entertainment. If the show wasn't "rigged" it probably won't be as entertaining as it was. Do our votes really count? Probably. Do the producers try to influence how we vote? Most certainly.
So there you have it. Written at two o'clock in the morning so my brain cells may not be all there. I hope you enjoyed the show. I certainly did.
(When I get back from work, my top performances of the season...)