American Idol viewers racist?

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.as...spx?news=158356

Was La Toya London knocked off "American Idol" by a Hawaiian punch or something more sinister? Although "American Idol" contestant Jasmine Trias of Oahu, Hawaii, flubbed her performance this week, it was favorite London whom viewers sent packing.

An anguished "Why?" rose from the ranks of her fans and bewildered "American Idol" judges, as it did when another standout contestant, Jennifer Hudson, was booted off last month.

If Wednesday's results are an indication of the unpredictability of U.S.

voters, Ralph Nader might consider measuring the Oval Office for new curtains.

Maybe it was simply the result of overwhelming Hawaii support for a native daughter. Others, however, raised the bleak possibility of racism or a misguided system that allows multiple votes.

Left standing in the Fox talent contest are Trias, Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo. The finale is May 25-26, when one singer wins the "Idol" crown and a record contract.

Acerbic judge Simon Cowell, who had called Tuesday's disco-song performance by Trias "really average karaoke," had suggested there was one chance for her survival.

"You better hope that every household in Hawaii has at least five telephones, because you're going to need all the support you can get," Cowell told a tearful Trias.

One phone company's records might hold clues to why her weeping proved unwarranted.

Of the 29 states in Verizon's local territory, only New York and California logged more calls on its network than Hawaii after the show, a Verizon spokesman said Thursday. California and New York are among the most populous states in the nation; Hawaii is among the least.

It's possible there was a regional factor beyond state pride. Because of the time difference — Hawaii is six hours behind the East Coast — viewers might enjoy a less-crowded calling period to cast votes.

When London ended up the loser, she exited with a poised, powerhouse rendition of the Barbra Streisand standard "Don't Rain on My Parade."

"I will see you again," she told the audience.

The most unsettling speculation centered on the possibility of racism, which was also raised when Hudson lost viewer support. Both London and Hudson are black.

Even pop star Elton John, who has participated in the show, said recently that he suspected racial bias was a factor in the voting.

In Internet chatter and conversation Thursday, fans of the show speculated that race may have been a factor in the first year's early elimination of Tamyra Gray — and with the recent votes. Some said their opinions were unaltered by last season's victory by Ruben Studdard, who's black.

In contrast to the show's vote, an AOL online poll that attracted 300,000 votes this week had London the likely winner. Before Wednesday's show, 47 percent of the votes picked London as the next "American Idol," followed by Barrino with 26 percent, DeGarmo with 21 percent and Trias with 6 percent.

It's unusual for the ongoing survey to be so out of whack with the show's results, said an AOL spokeswoman. In the week that Hudson was voted off, for example, she was ranked low in the online poll.

Fox, which releases scant voting data, declined Thursday to provide a geographical breakdown on the count. That reticence, which once seemed merely coy, now looks obstinate and isn't helping to satisfy unhappy fans.

"It is rigged," one disgruntled person proclaimed in an online posting, dismissing Trias as untalented and lauding the so-called "three divas," Barrino, London and Hudson. The writer didn't expand on who might be interfering with the vote, or why.

Others expressed concern about the voting system, which allows viewers to repeatedly call in for their favorite. The audience determines the contest's outcome, with the three-judge panel only providing commentary after having narrowed the field early in the contest.

"On voting, my cousins and I tried to vote for La Toya ... None of us were able to get through," one viewer said in an online posting.

Wrote another: "I've been saying this for sometime and now I am sure everyone will agree. The voting system is wrong. It should be one vote per phone or computer."

Others said they're intending to abandon the show because of the voting difficulty.

More theories abounded, including speculation that London's personality (one online posting chided her for a "cold demeanor") hurt, or that the talented Barrino and London somehow split the vote.

An "Idol" and La Toya fan from across the border, 34-year-old Rick Broadhead of Toronto worried Thursday that the show's credibility could be hurt if a lesser performer ultimately wins the title.

"I could see (judge) Randy Jackson walking away, saying, `I don't want to be associated with this," Broadhead said.

I don't really care about American Idol, but it pisses me off when people start declaring racism just because a black person was voted off. A BLACK PERSON WON THE LAST AMERICAN IDOL FUCKHEADS.

if the nazi's won ww2 this kind of shit wouldn't be a problem

*azert: Off topic but could you explain your signature for me? I've been wondering about this for some time.

im suprised everyone else is suprised, of course theyre racist. its america. half the people in the country are racist against there own kind its gotten so retarded. im also suprised anyone cares. and suprised no one's shot the simon guy on that show.

i heard an interview with "that simon guy" on npr. it was fairly interesting, inasmuch as that guy is as close to british royalty as you can be without an official title and he's a spoiled little rich fucker with the silver spoon still dangling out of his mouth.

how can it be racist when the hawiian is uh, brown skinned, cause i know hawiians dont call themselves white. and a black guy won the first one. right now, there is an african american, pac islander and a white chick. yeah, so racist. isnt there an african american idol now? what a great idea, ill bet rosa parks feels great knowing that modern day african americans are fighting for segregation again. theress always an excuse isnt there...

I know the show "says" that the viewers are the ones who choose who goies or stays but there is some help from the show ya know....The whole thing about the racism is soo wrong man, if you think about it...Why wouldnt they be doin this shit when that black guy got voted off, he could sing his ass off...Every girl I go to school with were saying that he would win and that there would be two black winners in the past two years....Either way feel no racism outta that show thats why I never watch or care to know who does what.......

Shit Happens.

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:lol:

who fucking cares? every time something doesn't go right....it gets blamed on racism. ever stop to consider you just weren't good enough?

fuck off

That's why I never agreed with the call-in voting from the population.

The JUDGES should do the selecting. They've worked in the music industry for years and have a natural ear for talent and music. People voting by phone are just regular motherfuckers like you and me, most who have no idea about bass, treble, cords, notes, falsetto, or any of that stuff. Makes me wonder what the fuck the judges are there for. You could see the judges didn't agree with the voting results.

Motherfuckers are gonna vote based on race, what city/state they "represent", or if they knew them personally. A lot of people aren't voting based on talent.

"Yeah that's my girl Jasmine Trias! So what if her voice cracked and the other girl had a stellar performance! Me and Jasmine used to kick it at Waikiki Beach, the Ala Muana shopping center and Zippy's on the weekends!"

As far as the people who are bashing Simon... well I like Simon. Simon is the best judge on there. Reason why he's an asshole is because he wants to weed out the runner-ups so the BEST singer can win. He's not concerned what people will think about him. He's concerned that the person with the most talent deserves to be the winner. And I give him credit since he's willing to sacrifice the general perceptions of his personality in order to allow the deserving person to win, and the deserving runner-ups to be runner-ups.

Paula Abdul is too fucking politically correct and nice. Damn, you must've "liked" every single singer up there since the first episode on Season One. She wasn't even hard on David Hung.

"Ummm well that was okay it just needs some work. I thought your energy was great and -- "

No Paula, it fucking sucked. Just tell him that and get your fucking point across.

And the other guy... well he'll make negative comments too but not as much as Simon.

Originally posted by LENS

who fucking cares? every time something doesn't go right....it gets blamed on racism. ever stop to consider you just weren't good enough?

That's the thing. They didn't suck, and were "good enough". Jennifer Hudson was a favorite by the judges and the other girl who just got kicked off was too. I don't believe in pulling the race card either, but the fact is that these 2 were considered favorites by the judges.

It'd be different if they actually "weren't good enough" and did get kicked off.

if you wanna talk about race relations, can it please be prompted w/ a more appropriate subject?

quit being a fag:mean:

yeah, didnt they kick some guy off cause he had a criminalrecord. and thats not what an american idol is, but what about misss im 22 and have a 9 year old kid with no dad, yeah thats an american idol

Originally posted by Vanity

if you wanna talk about race relations, can it please be prompted w/ a more appropriate subject?

 

quit being a fag:mean:

How does this topic make me seem like a homosexual? And I wasn't really trying to get into a deep conversation with racism, I was just pointing out the stupidity of the American public.

And calling a heterosexual person a homosexual is one of the most ignorant things a person can do.

I don't know about all this american idol shit but I watched the apollo the other day and this dude called super bad brad was cracking me the fuck up.

Originally posted by villain

I don't know about all this american idol shit but I watched the apollo the other day and this dude called super bad brad was cracking me the fuck up.

They have some corny motherfuckers on that show. Aren't the cornballs supposed to get weeded out in the tryouts before ever getting a chance to get their 15 minutes of fame on there? To me "Live In Hollywood" is like the bootleg ghetto version of American Idol.

He was a cornball but he actually does have talent. It was funny, he's all dorky looking and then all of a sudden he busts out into a song and he a big player....

I dunno, you'd have to see it.

Proof that people are idiots, American Idol.

Originally posted by ODS-1

Proof that people are idiots, American Idol.

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Man, you're fast with photoshop!

The people behind American Idol choose who they want to win beforehand. They pick them based on their marketability, talent, and whether viewers like them or not. They get their puppets to tell everyone that the voting matters, but it really doesnt mean shit. They put all of the names of the contestants in a hat, everyone besides the chosen winner of course. Every week they pick out a name, and that person will get kicked off. It could be the person that sucks, the peoples favorite, or someone in the middle. Its completely random, thats why people watch it. To see who will be next. It never has anything to do with race.

Thats my American Idol conspiracy theory. Goodnight and God bless.

scream racism at every opportunity

hmmm, maybe because there were no more white contestants that had a shot at winning it all they had to prepare for the good ole Clay Aiken take the shine away from the minority winner trick. You know this shit is fugazi. Notice, did Kelly Clarkston have a sidekick-unofficial co-champion ?