What’s happening to ‘American Idol’?!

Spoiler alert: If you are following the American Idol episodes as they’re shown here in the Philippines and would not like to know the show’s most recent elimination, do not continue reading.

When it comes to American Idol, the best singers of the Top 12 never really win: Tamyra Gray placed fourth in Season 1, and Kimberley Locke and Clay Aiken placed third and second, respectively, in Season 2. Don’t get me wrong, I live for this show, but recently, there have been controversies concerning those who deserve to stay and those who actually get eliminated. Thus, I raise these questions: Can America see (and hear) talent, and should the country really get to decide the winner? Is popularity superseding ability? And what is really happening to American Idol, the world’s biggest talent show?

I’m writing about Idol at this time due to my utter outrage over the elimination of Jennifer Hudson during a show where Fantasia Barrino and La Toya London belonged with her in the bottom three. They were called "The Three Divas," and were widely speculated to become this season’s final three – because of their talents. And yet, on the results show after the Barry Manilow-themed episode the previous night, arguably the most dramatic non-finale results show of Idol history, Ryan Seacrest called out their names and America was stunned. He immediately sent La Toya back to safety, and once Fantasia and Jennifer were left, with his sorriest "We’ll miss you" face, Seacrest announced Jennifer as the latest Idol cast-off. Hudson, who perfectly belted out Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing and Elton John’s Circle Of Life, and who at one point of the show had the highest number of votes, had been eliminated, and then the fireworks began. All of the remaining contestants were sobbing, especially Jen’s best friend George Huff; it was just one of those moments when you knew the whole world was in shock.

The outrage, as expected, poured in. Phone calls to Fox were made, petitions were signed, and accusations were hurled. Idol judge Paula Abdul said she didn’t "know how to sum this up," and Randy Jackson expressed his astonishment by calling the results "crazy" and "insane." "I can’t believe it," he said. Everyone knew Jennifer’s departure was premature, which brings us to John Stevens. No one – not even he – could believe how he could still be in the competition and Jennifer wasn’t. In a final goodbye hug, he even whispered in her ear "It should’ve been me." Pundits started thinking talent didn’t matter anymore and that popularity was driving the majority of the vote, since it wasn’t a secret that millions of teenage girls and Rat Pack-era seniors were the ones keeping the Sinatra wannabe in the competition. Thankfully, he was eliminated the following week.

Same goes with Jon Peter Lewis. JPL was eliminated a week before Jen, and didn’t get this far because he had a good voice, but because of his dance moves and the novelty act that he is. (Writes a fan on the message board of idolonfox.com, Idol’s official website, "I have a feeling John Stevens will win! He is so special and he improves every week. His version of Mandy was spectacular...The momentum is building for you! We’re going to vote over and over and over again – we’ll make you the new American Idol!" A reply from another fan goes: "Are you tone deaf? Or 13 years old and have crush on a cute guy on TV? John is probably a real sweet kid, but he’s no American Idol.")

Some fans didn’t take this injustice sitting down. John received death threats from die-hard fans that believed he caused Jennifer’s boot. His mother, concerned about his safety, even approached Idol producers.

However, amid all the controversy, we still don’t know the real reason why the formerly apparent final three became April 21’s bottom three. Internet message boards have been abuzz since Jennifer’s elimination, and several theories have risen, as compiled by Eonline.com:

• Racism– The four best singers in the Top 12 (including George Huff) just happened to be all African American, and this has become the most contentious claim. Many think the vote was racially motivated (even though Season 2’s winner, Ruben Studdard, is black). Previous guest judge Elton John went as far as calling American Idol "incredibly racist." "[They were] the three people I was really impressed with, and they just happened to be black, young female singers, and they all seem to be landing in the bottom three," he protested, citing that at least one of the girls was consistently in the bottom part of the group. "They have great voices. The fact that they’re constantly in the bottom three – and I don’t want to set myself up here – but I find it incredibly racist."

• Computer hackers – On the message board of idolonfox.com, a fan called asks: "I think there are a few smart (ass) computer geniuses who are hacking the system and tampering with the votes! Think about it: How did the top three become the bottom three in a week?"

• Everyone likes the underdog – Some believe that The Three Divas showed arrogance and overconfidence in the past few weeks, knowing their seemingly straight path to victory, and that fans were turned-off. On idolonfox.com, a fan writes: "No doubt [La Toya] has a good voice, but she should go. Her arrogance is extremely obnoxious." Another says about Jennifer: "Her attitude was terrible…" Another theory says that perhaps the divas’ fans were too confident their favorites would win just because they have great voices, and simply didn’t vote.

• The single mom factor – Being a single mom definitely helped Season 1’s Nikki McKibbin garner sympathy votes and reach the final three despite a not-so-great voice, but they seem to be going against La Toya and Fantasia. On a particularly vicious exchange on the Idol message boards, a fan writes, "Younger people admire and look up to the American Idols. Do we really want people looking up to a single mother? A single 19-year-old mother with a toddler?" citing Fantasia’s two-year-old.

• Vote splitting – In this year’s Oscars, two songs from Cold Mountain were nominated for Best Song, but in the end, Into The West from The Return Of The King took the statuette. This was because the Cold Mountain vote was split, and neither ended up winning. La Toya, Fantasia and Jennifer are in the same situation: "It is the same in years when someone wins an Oscar because three better films split the votes. The three ladies more than likely have people voting along the same demographic, and that splits their vote," writes another fan.

• Chicago blackout – One of the more plausible theories is that Jennifer was voted off because her hometown of Chicago had a power outage on the night before the elimination, leaving 15,000 households unable to watch the show or call-in and vote.

But despite the reason for the Idol shocker, we still have the two most talented singers in the competition, and let’s hope this serves as a wake-up call to America. Leah LaBelle (the teenager who was the first to be voted off in the finals) aside, this is the best batch of final 12 the show’s ever had, and America shouldn’t let it go to waste. I do think the country deserves to decide who wins (they are the ones who buy albums and singles), but talent should never replace popularity. (Whatever happens, Fantasia and La Toya will surely get record deals.)

Of the five remaining finalists, here are my picks for who I want to win American Idol (by the time this article is published, another one of the following finalists will be eliminated):

5) Diana DeGarmo

4) Jasmine Trias

3) George Huff

2) Fantasia Barrino

1) La Toya London

To Do List Movies

• Watch Van Helsing. The first big movie of the summer, Universal’s huge, daring $150-million production kicks off the summer movie season of 2004, and it has everything you want: sprawling Gothic sets (Prague fills in for Transylvania), Dracula, Frankenstein, Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, and of course, that freaky flying vampire woman we see in the trailers.

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For comments and your own Idol picks, e-mail me at lanz_gryffindor@yahoo.com