American Idol: Racist?

[teegee420]

Elton John Says 'Idol' Vote Is Racist

NEW YORK - Elton John (news) thinks there's something "incredibly racist" about viewer voting on Fox TV's "American Idol." John ? who rehearsed with the show's wannabe pop stars during a recent week in which they performed his songs ? said three performers he was really impressed with "happened to be black, young female singers and they all seemed to be landing in the bottom three."

"These three girls would have the talent to be members of The Royal Academy or Juilliard," the British singer-songwriter told reporters. "They have great voices. The fact that they are constantly in the bottom three, and I don't want to set myself up here, I find it incredibly racist."

Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said Wednesday the network had no comment.

John made the remarks in response to a question during a news conference Tuesday to announce his July 13-18 concerts at Radio City Music Hall. The concerts will feature students from London's Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School of New York.

Last week, black vocalist Jennifer Hudson was voted off the show, and the other two singers grouped in the bottom three of the remaining "American Idol" contestants were black singers La Toya London and Fantasia Barrino. They'd been praised by the show's judges and had become known as "The Three Divas."

The New York Post reported it was deluged with calls complaining that the voting was racially motivated. (The Post is owned by News Corp., which also owns Fox TV.)

Even series host Ryan Seacrest chastised viewers following the tally in which contestants who gave marginal performances were the top vote-getters.

"You cannot let talent like this slip through the cracks," Seacrest said.

London and Barrino are still in the competition, as is George Huff, who is black. For the contestants, a recording contract and instant career are at stake.

"American Idol," unlike other reality shows featuring competition, is more popular in black homes than white homes. For the current season, the show is watched in 19 percent of all black households, compared with 15 percent of white households, according to Nielsen Media Research

I know a lot of people here couldn't give a rat's ass about American Idol but I think this is an interesting issue.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the voting has been racist. The problem is that millions of teenage girls, which I believe dominate the votes aren't exactly the authority on vocal talent. Look at the success of Britney Spears and all the shit boy bands. And Hillary "tone deaf" Duff makes Paula Abdul sound like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion.

[888888]

I know a lot of people here couldn't give a rat's ass about American Idol

Yep, I don't. But accusing the show or voters of being racist is bullshit.

[rkr1958]

Either you let the people vote (choose) or you don't. If you let the people choose then things like this happen. The reason, I believe, is that the 3-divas, which besides George Huff are the best talent in the competition, were in the bottom three was because they "split-the-vote" between them. People that voted for John Stevens are voting for him for reasons other than he's the best. I suspect he's getting the Grandparents Vote (if there is one) and a lot of young teenage girl's vote. I like American Idol and I find this whole thing conversional thing unfortunate. This much to do about nothing COULD TURN it ugly when it was not.

[teegee420]

People that voted for John Stevens are voting for him for reasons other than he's the best.

Ya think? That guy is just plain awful. So help me, if he wins the competition I will start to question the merits of democracy. Maybe Castro has it right. Even JPL was better than John Stevens and they voted his ass off too.

[Conquest10]

I started watching after that poll. The results did seem a bit racist. While watching, I was thinking "They got the black group and the other group thing going on." I felt Fantasia should have been voted off. Seems most people think she has the best voice but to me it just sounds annoying. Its too nasally.

[teegee420]

I felt Fantasia should have been voted off. Seems most people think she has the best voice but to me it just sounds annoying. Its too nasally.

You're absolutely right. Her vocal ability is great but the voice just isn't there for me. And by her own admission, she kinda does look like Bugs Bunny.

[indolikaa]

This reminds me of the time some group was screaming racism because the three hyenas in The Lion King were lacking a vocal character with a particular accent.

It is now as it was then. Complete and total horseshit.

[flaninacupboard]

Well, the point of these idol shows is that, to provide young kids with an idol they wish to be like. kids are racist, they don't know any better, they will vote for the person they want to be most like, so unlikely it will be someone who is a different colour. as the majority of kids in america are white.....

No one would be concerned if the thing was dominated by black people, despite that looking racist. well, not anyone i would wish to talk to anyway

[Cobra]

I don't think racism had anything to do with it. It's the general public...

Just look at Cartoons. They reached No. 1 here in the UK a few years back. They made complete and utter prats of themselves, and tortured anyone with either taste or sanity, or anyone above the age of three for that matter. I bet they were laughing all the way to the bank, too.... Gits.

Having said that, I don't watch any of these shows and I only heard about it on Radio 1 when I was doing the washing up tonight. My impression is that people use racism as a scapegoat when things don't go right. The sooner people just get it through their skulls that we're all Homo sapiens the better!

Cobra

[teegee420]

Well, the point of these idol shows is that, to provide young kids with an idol they wish to be like. kids are racist, they don't know any better, they will vote for the person they want to be most like, so unlikely it will be someone who is a different colour. as the majority of kids in america are white.....

No one would be concerned if the thing was dominated by black people, despite that looking racist. well, not anyone i would wish to talk to anyway

I think there's a bit of truth to what you're saying, but the problem is that the dude who won last year(Ruben Studdard) is black. Then again he has been outsold by Clay Aiken to date as far as CD sales. To be fair, I haven't heard either album so for all I know Clay simply has a better disc out.

[glockjs]

is this elton john's way of showing his booby(yup, janet j reference). so things are slow for him lately, why not make a little hype.

[teegee420]

What do you expect? It's not like any royals have died lately for him to capitalize on. :P

[Marco33]

racist?

"Fixed" is more of what comes to mind when I watch the show. When you see some of the better performers in the bottom... you KNOW something is up.

I think they deliberately put the better performers in the bottom (next to the one person who is getting cut) to make it more interesting.

[tgpo]

Racist? Sure. America is mad all the white people suck

[Rookie64]

First thing anyone (no matter what sex or race you are) aiming for any type of career in the entertainment industry should learn is Rejection - get used to that. You'll deal with it every day.

Sometimes it takes failure to succeed.
It makes you stronger and gives you more determination to push yourself to be as good as you can be.


Winning a talent show means nothing, really, in having a successful career.

Those chosen to be on the show to begin with should feel lucky they at least got a shot to be on the show - it gave each exposure.
It's up to each of them to decide how to use that in furthering themselves.


Some words of wisdom....

It ain't what you do...it's the way that you do it
It aint what you do... it's the place that you do it
It ain't what you do it...it's the time that you do it
And that's what gets results


BTW, Britney Spears' first shot at singing was being a contestant on Star Search - guess what...she lost.

[pacmania_2001]

To touch on a few issues:

rkr1958 has it right, they (3 Divas) are too much alike so split the vote between each other. As they get down to the final one they'll stand a better chance. If they have anyone to blame it is themselves, not the colour of the skin.

American Idol sucks. The only reason to watch the show is in the initial audition parts to watch people who have been coaxed by the friends and their family into believing they have talent being told they sound like a strangled kitten.

Elton John, whilst being a good musician is also retarded.

And Hillary "tone deaf" Duff makes Paula Abdul sound like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion.

Hey, dont knock my Hilary!

[housepig]

I don't watch it, the closest I've gotten to seeing it was seeing pictures of a co-worker who went down to Atlanta to try out.

but one theory that I've heard is that the votes were swung by a large amount of text-message votes, which can be accepted and tallied at a higher call volume than the regular phone calls can.

according to this theory, while the African American voters (who comprise a statistically lower share of the text-message market) were running into busy signals trying to cast their vote by phone, tons of white voters (who comprise a higher share of texters) were getting tons of votes in by text message.

don't know how true it is, but it makes for an interesting theory. and if you want to weave racisim into it, you can focus on the widening tech divide between haves and have-nots.

[adam]

I truly could not care less about American Idol, but have you seen the previews for that spinoff? They do everything the same but kick off the good singers and lie to the worst ones and tell them how great they are. Its this huge joke on these people. It looks like it could easily be staged but the guys are so damn fruity that it looks funny anyway.

[Cobra]

I heard that these guys are locked into some sort of contract that means they can't perform for another record company and this contract means they get sod all money from their "music".

It sounds like it's all a big scam, for both sides. Some TV producer is getting a new Bentley, methinks.

Give me some Lost Prophets or RHCP anyday!

Cobra

[northcat_8]

Unfortunately I have watched the show (I have a 13 year old daughter)

Other than being a complete waste of 60 minutes of my time...the one black girl is the best one on there...Latoya (I think)...she was better than everyone the first time I seen her and I saw the show again the other night and she's still the best one. They could have stopped the show 5 weeks ago and replaced it with the Simpsons or Family Guy or Futurama.....I really have to get a 2nd PC to use while #1 is encoding.

[Guest]

Interesting fact- More black males in the 18-25(or 31-can't remember exactly) age group voted in the last American Idol than in the 2000 Presidental election.

[Capmaster]

Interesting fact- More black males in the 18-25(or 31-can't remember exactly) age group voted in the last American Idol than in the 2000 Presidental election.

That tells you where their priorities are. Then they whine about who's in office. If you don't like it, change it, or STFU :P

[Cobra]

It is quite sad when people's priorities lie more in a TV show than in real life matters. If that is the case, perhaps it is better that they do not vote.

I think Capmaster summed up what I was about to post earlier quite nicely.

Cobra

[Conquest10]

That tells you where their priorities are. Then they whine about who's in office. If you don't like it, change it, or STFU :P

Hell yes!

[teegee420]

Well America has spoken. John Stevens has been eliminated from the competition. I guess there is a little justice in reality TV. Now if only Boston Rob would get voted off Survivor All-Stars.

[pyscrow]

Of course the show is racist - see anybody on there who is not a US citizen?

Same deal when they Shot Survivor Australia here a few years ago - only yanks were allowed to apply to be on the show - totally racist!

[teegee420]

Of course the show is racist - see anybody on there who is not a US citizen?

Doesn't the name imply this? It's American Idol. Several other countries have their own versions.

Same deal when they Shot Survivor Australia here a few years ago - only yanks were allowed to apply to be on the show - totally racist!

Again, it's an American show. How many Australian produced shows are there that feature predominantly American casts? We have a hard enough time representing non-white Americans on TV without having to worry about other nations too.

[Capmaster]

Of course the show is racist - see anybody on there who is not a US citizen?

Same deal when they Shot Survivor Australia here a few years ago - only yanks were allowed to apply to be on the show - totally racist!

And what "race" is American? I thought we had all of the races here.

Again, it's an American show. How many Australian produced shows are there that feature predominantly American casts? We have a hard enough time representing non-white Americans on TV without having to worry about other nations too.

True, true. So many politically correct things for them to worry about. Eventually people will be represented by a grayish-hued, androgenous "every-person" with no apparent sexual drive so as to not piss off blind eskimos, handicapped Cajuns or gay pedophiles.

[adam]

Of course the show is racist - see anybody on there who is not a US citizen?

Is this supposed to be a joke? The name of the show is American Idol. Also nationality has nothing to do with race.

EDIT:I guess great minds think alike. You two type too fast.

[indolikaa]

Of course the show is racist - see anybody on there who is not a US citizen?

Same deal when they Shot Survivor Australia here a few years ago - only yanks were allowed to apply to be on the show - totally racist!

So we're just a bunch of yankee racists...