It’s funny how people can get so personal with people they have a slim chance of knowing personally.
Given a topic for discussion – the AOL poll, for example – different kinds of people will interpret it differently. We will agree, disagree, love it or hate it. Then slowly, the comments digress from the topic at hand. At one point, we find ourselves talking about how this contestant has no respect for the process, how that contestant’s fans are the most eloquent, how this other contestant shows no range, how that other contestant’s fans are a bunch of tweens, and whatnot.
Whoa. It’s not about the topic anymore, is it? Over time, it will become more about us and less about our Idols. I am not sure if it is an overt signal that we humans are actually more narcissistic than we choose to accept. Think about it, how many conversations have you had that did shift to something about yourself?
I am not excluding myself from such observation. It’s hilarious, really. When you think about it, if a person tells you that he had lasagna for dinner, you’d probably reply with, “I just had a small serving of Caesar salad because I’m on a diet.” Suddenly, the conversation shifted to you. Weird, but entertaining.
Going back to the topic at hand (oh yes, I will fight the urge to turn this into an entry about how my day was), with the results of the AOL poll for American Idol published over 48 hours ago, there has been a lot of banter between fan bases. You better watch your back *insert group name here*, the fans of *insert name of another Idol* are out to get you.
Fan A: Jason Castro is the most overrated contestant? No! The poll is definitely wrong!
Fan B: Yea, I think David Archuleta is the most overrated. He’s nice but very boring. He gives us a ballad after ballad after ballad. When he does something upbeat, it’s a mess! Plus, how many times has he been marketed by the producers as the most marketable contestant? I lost count at 150. His CD will probably sell because the teenyboppers out there love him to death for some reason.
(What a coincidence, Jason lost count on the number of interviews he’s done at 150 too. On another note, I don’t think it’s a non-Archie’s place to criticize an Archie for liking what she likes. We all have different likes and dislikes. I mean, if we didn’t, why would slum books bother asking.)
Fan C: Jason was and is the most overrated contestant on Idol. He has absolutely no vocal range or personality. Sure, Archuleta is young, awkward and inexperienced, but he is definitely not overrated.
(Maybe I read the topic wrong. Did AOL dub Jason as the Idol who has the least vocal range and personality? Wow, I might have been reading some other poll result then. As for Archie being inexperienced, yea right, and he hasn’t been singing since he was young…er and Jason has been a vocalist since he was five. Duh, how could I have forgotten that?)
Fan D: To be factual, both Cook and Archuleta have great voices. Cook is more flexible, but Archuleta is not that far behind. He just needs a little polishing for stage presence, and then they’re both good to go. As for being overrated, it would be Jason. Even though he has his own way of singing, he’s not flexible.
(This is one of the funniest things ever. To be factual, this is the farthest from factual one can ever get. I remember in elementary, teachers spent a lot of time teaching us the difference between fact and opinion. I guess this person was too busy doing gymnastics all day, with all this spin on flexibility and all. Maybe he is referring to a different poll too, one that talks about flexibility.)
Fan E: Castro is overrated? By whom? Really now, he is one of the underrated contestant of season seven because he doesn’t get enough credit for arranging the songs, just like how Carly was not given enough praise for her take on Here You Come Again.
(Yea, by whom? By his fans? Well, duh. They’re his fans; it’s what they do. That aside, I agree with giving credit where credit is due. Jason, Carly and other contestants have not been praised as much for the changes in arrangement they have made.)
Fan F: Archie tweens should get a life already, or at least, hit puberty first. Seriously, you’re all childish, whiny and unable to express yourselves well with decent sentences. Come back when you can spell properly.
(Foul. Let’s not steer this discussion to things like that. Sure, I often wish replies to thread would be something more civilized and more articulate than “are you stupid… he was d bst in d bunch!!... if u had ears… u apreciate him more!” However, to say that those kinds of comments only come from Archuleta’s fans would be a sweeping generalization. In fact, it would simply be unfair. If you think they’re a bunch of whiny lovers, you’re a whinier hater.)
Fan G: I can’t believe so many people think Jason was underrated. Don’t people have any sense? Have people forgotten what a good singer sounds like? To have gotten that far in the competition and still have forgotten the lyrics to his song was just as Simon says – it was utterly atrocious.
(Don’t people have any sense? Actually, I think they do. People have a sense of individuality, of being unique thinkers who decide for themselves who they are going to like because it appeals to them. I don’t think people have forgotten exactly what a good singer sounds like because there exists no such standard. And hey, if you say Mariah, Celine and Whitney, I’ll scream. If sense to you means letting go of your personal preferences and submitting to what you, Mr./Ms. Fan G believes is good music, then I’d rather be called senseless. No, scratch that. I will only be too happy to establish a club for the ultimately senseless people who wants to remain their own persons.)
There’s too much of this going around, too much that it’s nearly impossible to soak it all in.
If there is anything overrated here, it is the AOL poll’s published results. If it’s representing anything, it is how incompetent a huge corporation is to have published results from a poll that can be rigged even easier than American Idol itself? I mean, why are we paying too much attention to (and going so far as believing) an online poll that can easily be hacked and manipulated? I know many of you are now giving virtual glares to other fan bases, accusing them of voting ten times a day when you think it should be limited to a vote per person (or at least, per IP address). However, studies show that it’s not just the extra 10, 50 or 100 we put in for our favorites (or in some cases, for our least favorites) that alters unsecured polls like this dramatically. Think 10,000 while a person’s out for lunch, obviously computer-automated.
Furthermore, because we don’t know when the poll will end, a lot of the results vary on different occasions. At times when Michael Johns’s fans rally to vote, he had the lead in the Daughtry-like success category. When the Dreadheads rally to vote (which I think didn’t really happen because they were preoccupied with coping with the whirlwind of press Jason is subjected to), Over the Rainbow was in the lead for best performance. When Archuleta haters rally to vote, he is the most overrated and had the worst performance title in the bag.
One word: Whatever.
If we take a moment to disregard all the factors mentioned above, it still wouldn’t be in good conscience for me to consider the published results as legitimate. In fact, it is anything but – yes, that is even if they have been able to limit the number of votes per unit. You have to ask yourselves the following questions:
1. Why are the choices for each category so limited?
Although I have to agree that it would have been more complicated if we had 10 choices for each category, I have to say the manner by which the choices have been narrowed down to 5 or 6 is questionable. What was the basis in selecting which ones will appear in the poll? Is it the iTunes sales? The search engine figures? The judges’ comments? Really, I don’t know what they were thinking. If to me, the best performance this season was Carly Smithson’s Here You Come Again or Brooke White’s Let It Be, then I’ll be forced to choose one of the five that appeared on the list. Having said that, it cannot be concluded that so and so is the best performance this season. One can only say that it was voted the best of the five options available.
2. Why are the songs attached to a contestant too inappropriate for the category?
Was You’re the Voice David Archuleta’s worst performance? Fans would say “definitely not, he had a good night with that song”, non-fans would say “maybe, not really, I don’t care”, and haters would say “all his performances were nightmares”. Personally, I don’t think it was his worst performance this season; that title goes to We Can Work It Out hands down. I mean, he has been very consistent all through out, but with that top 12 performance, the arrangement was lacking, he flubbed the lyrics twice, and over-all, it was just an off night for him. (I’m not putting all the blame on him though; part of it goes to the fact that these songs were given life to years before his parents gave life to him. He had an off night then, but theme nights are way off almost all the time.)
Now, was Mr. Tambourine Man Jason Castro’s worst performance? Fans would say “of course not, the only bad thing there was the forgotten lyric, but what he did to cope with that made him all the more endearing”, non-fans would say “maybe one of his not-so-good ones”, and haters would say “there’s no doubt, plus everything he does is so one-note and boring”. For this particular issue, I think the forgotten lyric overarched the entire performance. What was particularly bad about this performance saved for the lack of jingle and jangle? On one hand, a certain contestant flubs his lyrics a number of times and his performance is deemed perfect. (Yes, Archuleta, I’m referring to you. Don’t take it too hard though. You forgetting your lyrics even during your audition contributed to me having an ounce of fondness for you. You aren’t that robotic after all. Gosh.) On the other hand, Jason forgets the lyrics once come performance night and he gets crucified for it? It wasn’t his best, yes, but to call it his worst is just… odd. I don’t think I need to expound on this further, so I’ll just reiterate my conclusion: The forgotten lyric overarched the entire performance.
3. What if (and this really is just a what-if situation) I think Michael Johns is the most overrated contestant this season?
With questions like this, we go back to number one. We are asked to choose when we’re not really given enough choices. I mean, hey, what if I think Danny Noriega is the most overrated? Although with this category, which will be dealt with more below, I can’t say that we can conclude that so and so is the most overrated among the ones listed.
4. How come only the following are the ones that often make it to the news: favorite Idol winner and most overrated contestant?
Is it a conspiracy? I don’t know. Catt Sadler from the Daily 10 said it best when she reported that in a recent AOL poll, Carrie Underwood has been named the favorite Idol winner and that Jason Castro was voted most overrated. DUBIOUS is the exact term she used in referring to the latter. Because really, in the greater scheme of things, I cannot say that Jason Castro is the most overrated contestant in season 7 because [aside from the fact that only a few of them were short listed,] he most certainly is not overpraised or overpimped. Unlike some contestants who, apparently, can do no wrong to the judges, Jason slowly but surely became all levels of wrong to Randy, Simon and Paula (ahem, Paulagate) plus Nigel and co. He clearly was not overhyped like Carly was, taking into consideration that he was given almost no air time prior to Daydream. Yes, Carly became the judges/producers/media’s punching bag in the semifinals and beyond, but guess what, Jason now officially holds the honor of being the media’s punching bag.
“Jason, is it true that you smoke weed?”
“Jason, I can’t believe you yawned backstage. Was it really because you didn’t care?”
“Jason, how stupid was it that you forgot the lyrics to the Bob Dylan song?”
“Jason, I felt as if you never took the competition seriously. Do you regret that?”
“Jason, it’s clear that you wanted to go home the night you really were sent home.”
“Jason, never mind your 1340 in the SAT, but are you really as dumb as AI portrayed you?”
“Jason, did you say don’t vote? Did
“Jason, do you smoke weed?”
“Jason, how long have you been smoking weed?”
Let’s say it again for the record: I find it questionable that the two most reported categories are Carrie Underwood for favorite Idol winner (which is cool, because I like her song for Disney’s Enchanted) and Jason Castro for most overrated contestant.
Oh well. I’m not about to give some unprotected poll get more credence from me than what it actually deserves. Wait, who is that guy in the recent country music awards that didn’t exactly embrace his entertainer of the year award because it was voted on online? Yea, whatever that guy’s name is… thank you.
So, should I end this with something about myself?
Nah, but I had friend chicken for dinner.
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Coming up: American Idol finale, what Hallelujah felt like
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