JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum American Idol 2009

You couldn't see "Kris" in the finals because you'd never seen or heard of him. He didn't get the background push that Danny got. Danny was only there in the final 5 because of that. Sure, he sang well, but was boring boring boring. The same can be said of the partially blind guy who was an embarrassment.

AI are masters of manipulation. From the subtle (like which key weeks to do which genres of music) to the performance order of the show, to the clearly staged judges comments meant to push the right buttons (sometimes harsh criticism can help as much as praise if done at the right times). But their ultimate weapon is how much face time people get pre-Top 12. Danny and the partially blind guy got way more than Kris ever did.

I wasn't a huge fan of Kris from the tiny amount of footage I was allowed to see. I wish they would put clips at least of the Hollywood week contestants up so folks could really see them. But they like this sort of invisible unless you're paying attention manipulation and it has worked well for them over the years (in their minds). Sadly, I think if they were more balanced with their converage, they might have better results at the end. They are lucky this year that they had a handful of really good singers that didn't collapse under the pressure. Lil Rounds and Scott were the two worst in the Top 10. (Not even mentioning the people that finished 13th, 12th and 11th.. all were pretty terrible). They left several true talents by the side of the road after Hollywood week was over and they were picking the final 13. We'll never know why exactly. The girl that finished 13th was totally a set up. She was cute and looked like an already famous actress but couldn't sing AT ALL. In the end, they found 4-5 really talented singers/performers, out of the 100K or whatever the number was that they auditioned. You decide if that was enough or not.


Brian