Second Negative

The Golden Calf: Racist?

I watch American Idol. I’m not ashamed. Well, not much. I make an effort to resist every year, but towards the end I always start watching again. I’m not normally a fan of reality TV, especially talent shows, but somehow I get swept up in the madness of it.

The big controversy this week over the possibility of racist viewers voting to keep John Stevens (arguably one of the whitest people I have ever seen) over Jennifer Hudson seems like complete bullshit to me.

Aren’t these the same viewers who voted for Ruben over Clay last year? The same viewers who voted off people of all races to whittle down to a final six that is 50% black? If anything, the voters have shown that from week to week, no contestant is safe.

I guess I don’t understand why it took about 5 seconds for someone to cite racism as a contributing factor. What about the 15,000 people who lost power in Jennifer Hudson’s hometown and could not vote? Or how about the popularity of both John Stevens and George Huff among teenage girls, the majority of voters? I would even guess that plenty of people, young and old, are voting for John because he seems like a nice kid and they feel sorry for him. Listening to the abuse he has taken these past weeks has even made ME want to vote for him, and I’ve never voted. C’mon people, it’s not the presidency we’re voting for here. I’d feel just as good about a sympathy vote as any other.

The truth is that the finalists that are talented will all get an opportunity to be successful because of the show. And those that are not, will not. I can only hope that if tonight is the night for John, he uses his last minutes of fame to beat the hell out of Carson Daly Ryan Seacrest. Stevens…out.