Comments on: “American Idol” Sends Chikezie To The Showers

By: Manola

Manola — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:37:27 +0000

@Charles A. Hohman:

Re. Country is hot, R&B is not:

This is why Chikezie may want to continue in that bluegrassy vein we saw last week and the week before.

By: Manola

Manola — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:32:20 +0000

@Charles A. Hohman:

Lest we forget that three out of the six winners of AI happen to be black.

By: Manola

Manola — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:30:32 +0000

Is Simon afraid of deportation? Because his kudos to Kristy came out of left field for me

By: Thierry

Thierry — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:56:15 +0000

Also, if anyone has a trick for getting “You’re the Voice” out of my head, I would really appreciate it…

By: dsven

dsven — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:31:00 +0000

@Charles A. Hohman: Charles, stop looking for a a conspiracy that just ain't there. Like Jim said, 50% of the winners in 6 seasons have been non-white.

Anyway, we all know that Chikeze had no hope of winning the whole thing. Whether he was booted 10th or 7th, does it REALLY matter? We all know that Syesha, Kristy Lee, and Ramiele are the next 3 boots, it's just the matter of order.

If you really want to get indignant about an issue, try focussing on something less trivial than supposed racial conspiracies on a reality tv/fluff show. How about Tibet instead?

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:59:11 +0000

Called it.

By: creamsissle

creamsissle — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:13:25 +0000

@Jim Thome's Self-Cleaning Oven: Alternate with "Do I Make You Proud?" for maximum effect.

By: Hamm Beerger

Hamm Beerger — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:04:28 +0000

@Charles A. Hohman: It sounds like you think that the music buying public is racist and that Idol is just reflecting that. That's fine... I don't think it's true, but it's a reasonable argument.

But your point about Idol and hip-hop is right on.

By: Hamm Beerger

Hamm Beerger — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:02:05 +0000

@ReverendDrGladhands: Dude, Ramiele was heinous this week. She only made it because of the sympathy vote.

Re: black losers having less that Pickler careers. It's a genre, not a race, thing. Country sells really well right now, but the R&B market seems to be a bit fickle.

By: Charles A. Hohman

Charles A. Hohman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:57:52 +0000

@Jim Thome's Self-Cleaning Oven: Three of seven winners, yes. But when compared to the multimillions sold by Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Daughtry, Fantasia, Ruben and Jordin have failed to sell impressively outside the "urban" base. With the franchise flagging in ratings and sales, this likely motivated the stunning lack of diversity in the Top 24 (which is decided by the producers, not America). They've virtually given up on finding/marketing a "new" Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey who could appeal to a multi-racial, multi-genre audience. (And of course, music industry factors in the last decade play a heavier role in this failure than "Idol" itself. As does "Idol"'s moralistic embargo against fully embracing hip-hop.)

@Audif Jackson Winters III: This is accurate, but he still seemed very squeamish about his song selection. I believe he was following his heart as much as I believe Archuleta's parents played no role in his song selection.