Elton accuses American idol to be racist.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 5:11pm

I AGREE!
Eltononidol

Updated On: 4/27/04 at 05:11 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 5:25pm

That's what you get when you place the fates of the performers in the hands of the audience. Rarely is it ever about talent. But then, the same could be said of the industry. The audience vote is going to be determined on popularity and the number of family and friends each performer has. It's like those littel talent contests in bars. If you show up alone, you won't win. If you arrive with more friends than the competitors, then you win.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 5:26pm

Thanks for moving it here Craig.

Updated On: 4/27/04 at 05:26 PM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 5:48pm

Well, Fantasia had never been in the bottom 3 before and LaToya was once before, after a subpar performance on Motown night. Jennifer was in the bottom group at the beginning but, well, she wasn't particularly good at the beginning.

I think rather than being a race issue, it's an issue where there are three talented black singers, dividing votes and, also, being pushed as favorites the entire time and I'm imagining people tend to vote for underdogs more.

Do I think the voters are doing a good job? Oh, god, no. Do I think it's a sign of inherent racism? I doubt it. I think it's just a poor voting system. Votes should be CUMULATIVE so a win one week means something the next week.

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 5:57pm

Ditto what JP said. For the life of me I can't understand why the populace is getting so emotional about all this. Good Lord. If one of these kids is good and marketable, they're gonna get a recording contract, AI win or no.

I do feel sorry for John Stevens, though. All that he's done wrong, it seems, is get through to the next round week after week. And for THAT, he's being attacked all over the media as the Anti-Christ. It's not his fault he makes it through -- hell, at this point, I bet he wishes he'd be voted off. I sure would.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 6:11pm

Enough already with the playing of the race card on every subject known to mortal man. If it was race, how come most of the finalists are african americans ? It is a stupidity issue. Red could not sing his way out of a paper bag. Those who voted for him are not racists but candidates for Nurse Ratchid's ward & heavy medication.

Racism was what happened in the south in the sixties & not a singer getting voted off a talent show. Get a life people . There are more important things in life than American Idol. There, I said it

Updated On: 4/27/04 at 06:11 PM

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 6:14pm

I definitely agree. Ruben won last year.

[nystateomind04]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 6:15pm

well... everyones a little bit racist. tehehe

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 6:16pm

While I was PISSED at Jennifer's leaving, I do not feel that it is a racism issue--for the reasons already mentioned plus the fact that Ruben won last year, with a few African Americans being in the top 4 in the first two years. Music recorded by Black artists is extremely popular in this country. I don't think the audience for AI is racist. I think it was a very unfortunate result last week. Unless the show is rigged, America is smoking crack if they think ANY of the other singers deserved more votes than the 3 ladies. I think it is just the result of poor taste, but I can't help but feel the show is rigged.

Culmulative voting would be more effective.

[mominator]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 6:25pm

Sadly I agree. Might be interesting to hear what Ryan and the judges have to say about all this fall out!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 6:44pm

There's a lot of good thinking in this thread. I think labeling the vote as racist serves no cause, not the triumph of talent or the further evolution of civil rights. I remember when Michael Jackson played the race card against Sony, it had a shelf-life of about 20 minutes, since the music world is all about the bottom line: money. Sony paid a small fortune for Jackson, assuming profits were inevitable. His work didn't deliver, but hardly because Sony opted to hold back their expensive ticket.

IDOL this season is nothing if not a showcase for some of the best African-American singing talent in America. There are three soul/R&B divas, all gifted, all polished. Wasn't it inevitable they might cancel one another out a bit? All three women are distinctive, but they are a category of singer, and many people, even those admiring them, probably lump them together -- not because of their race, but the PERCEIVED sameness of their style -- and turn to the others. It's painful because the others aren't in the same league. But really, if you built a show and had, say, Aretha, Whitney, and Gladys K, there would be people wanting Celine and Faith Hill. And Harry Connick. That's the fickle nature of American taste. People like variety on IDOL, so they no doubt root -- with votes -- for singers who provide it. Even when those singers are mediocre or worse.

Updated On: 4/27/04 at 06:44 PM

[nystateomind04]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 7:03pm

Updated On: 4/27/04 at 07:03 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 7:06pm

Well i admit to first thinking it was a race issue. But after reading all your thoughts here I believe it not to be a race issue anymore. God I only wish the rest of the threads on this thing were as intelligent.

[nystateomind04]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 7:18pm

i think i know what kind of posts you are talking about dame (correct me if im wrong) maybe people around here just turn stupid when someone mentions the word... wicked... ah!

[DAME]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 7:21pm

LOL. I am not saying I am not guilty of contributing to them. And I do enjoy some of them till they get out of hand. But read this thread and see how eloquent the posters have been. A pleasure to read.

Updated On: 4/27/04 at 07:21 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 7:37pm

Maybe it is because people actually have something to say.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 8:38pm

Me thinks knighthood has gone to Elton John's head. Maybe dubbing with the sword he got conked on the noggin.He was raving about all the contestants even red. What Sir Elton says now is suspect & sour grapes. Anyone who actually thinks Red has talent ( including Sir Elton ) needs to have his head examined. Red belongs singing in A Holiday Inn in some one horse town somewhere.

I am taping it for my wife when she gets home tonight (having dinner with some girlfriends) we can both watch it but it is not the be all & end all for me. I first watched the show 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[etoile]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 10:30pm

Does anyone else feel apathy plays into this? Not so much the talented cancelling each other, but more the expectations of the viewers that the strong will be taken care of and don't need the votes. So no one votes for them. I think it's as simple as that. When you have Simon already proclaiming who should be the top contenders, there seems little reason for the populace to vote for them.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 10:53pm

That's definitely a factor and Ryan Seacrest mentioned it at the top of the show tonight. That, and those people who vote a thousand times for one person. I think they should adopt the same format that other voting shows have-one vote per viewer.

[DAME]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 10:58pm

I wonder when voting on the internet will start. When we vote for something on this page...it wont let us vote more than once. i think thats the way they should go.

[etoile]

Posted: 4/27/04 at 11:11pm

Now only a hussy who has tried to vote more than once would know that, wouldn't they now?

[BroadwayBound06]

Posted: 4/28/04 at 6:56am

I guess America is raceist

[Jon]

Posted: 4/28/04 at 7:57am

Of course race is a factor. It's all a numbers game. If Jasmine survives last night's sub-par performance, it will be beacause of the support of the Hispanic-Asian-Native American-whatever the hell she is community. If Jon Stevens survives, it's because of the thousands of 13 year old white girls who want to vote for a cute-but-non-threatening white boy.

The fact it, the show could not support three big-voiced African-American divas. They divided the vote.

The same thing happened the first season. Tamyra Grey and Christina Christian (?) were so similar - Whitney Houston clones - that they both were eliminated early. Tamyra was clearly better than R.J., Nikki and Sideshow Bob.

[orion59]

Posted: 4/28/04 at 8:26am

I think the term racism is being used too freely in this situation. It may be true that one person gets more votes from the 13 year old white girls and another gets more votes from people of her ethnicity but, it's wrong to consider taht reacism. There is a fine line between racism and ethnic pride sometimes. Voting for someone who is teh same ethnicity as you because you want to see that person succeed isn't necessarily racist. Perhaps in the job market it would be but we are talking about a talent competition here.

Racism gets applied too easily to too many situations where it is not a factor. I feel this contributes to making real racism less of a serious issue.

In any case, when you have a contest that is voted on by teh general public, it is never going to be a completely objective vote. Poeple will always vote according to their own tastes and perferences or by the fact that they know a contestant or come from the same geographical area or whatever. I can't believe how seriously some people take this show.

[RobbO]

Posted: 4/28/04 at 11:00am

i wrote a song about this. it is called, "who cares?"