American Idol Fan Site | Who got voted off American Idol

American Idol Commentary for April 9

Unless you live under a rock, you know who sanjaya malakar is. He is an utterly untalented 17-year-old contestant on American Idol, and arguably the worst performer to get this far in the competition during the six-year history of the show. At times, he even makes the infamous William Hung look good. Under normal circumstances, smiling Sanjaya would probably be booed off the stage at a middle school musical. Sales of eggs at the local markets would likely go up every time he tried to “entertain.” So you have to wonder how he ever got on American Idol to begin with.

But in a bizarre chain of events that has resulted in Simon Cowell threatening to quit and a female fan going on a hunger strike until he is voted off, Sanjaya could actually end up the next American Idol. And that’s because a) he’s so bad, viewers at this point are voting to keep him on the show to see if it can get any worse; b) young teens—like the sobbing 13-year-old girl who was all over the media a few weeks ago—think he’s cool and c) his numerous hairstyles (from the completely ridiculous to the merely weird) have coiffeurs across the country buzzing. Fans, in fact, seem more interested in his ‘do than his singing.

With Web sites popping up right and left to support this Idol oddity (including VoteForTheWorst.com) and loudmouth Howard Stern chiming in to offer his support, Sanjaya isn’t leaving anytime soon. And if he does prevail, the validity of the No. 1 show on television will be sorely challenged. Is American Idol a bona fide competition in search of the next best singer or a circus sideshow?

Don’t get me wrong. I give young Sanjaya credit because unlike season three’s red-haired crooner John Stevens (another bad Idol contestant), he knows how to capitalize on this crazed momentum. He knows damn well that if he comes out in some bizarre hairstyle or get-up, bloggers across the country will go nuts. And he knows the more people talk, the more they will vote. And that vote will be for him even if he does just plain stink. For a 17-year-old, the kid’s wise beyond his years.

Even so, all this fracas about Sanjaya now raises concerns about the future of American Idol. Do viewers really want to commit to upcoming seasons of a show if suddenly no one takes it seriously?

I am not sure if I would. But I might have a change of heart if American Idol makes some changes. Here’s what I think it should do next season:

1. Make sure that the oddball auditions do not take away from the validity of the eventual competition. I understand why the producers cram those early weeks with an array of screwballs—to spike the ratings, of course—but this is not The Gong Show or a sitcom. American Idol is a serious competition and it must be treated so accordingly. Start spending more time accentuating the good, and not the crazies, at least initially.

2. Consider not allowing high school students to compete in the competition because a) some of the criticism might be too harsh for their young ears and b) they don’t have the same amount of time to prepare for the competition. After all, shouldn’t Sanjaya and Jordin Sparks be in high school?

3. Note to Paula: toughen up. You’re nice, you’re sweet and we like you. But it’s time to tell someone like Sanjaya to take a hike. Maybe that will send the message that this is a real competition.

4. Make sure that people voting at home are only allowed to call in once. While an aging baby boomer like me will probably only vote one time, crazed fans like that crying 13-year-old could be calling in dozens upon dozens of times. And it compromises the vote. While it does sound impressive to say that the contestants received a total of some 30-odd million votes, allowing people to have more than one vote could negatively impact the outcome.

5. Take a page from ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and start having Randy, Paula and Simon vote, and allow those votes to count for 50 percent of the outcome. By doing that, the producers of the show can take partial control of the results.

With close to 30 million viewers tuning in each week, American Idol is not going away anytime soon. But unless the rules start getting stricter, more people like Sanjaya will try to get on the show. And instead of being a serious competition, the show will begin to lose its cachet with viewers and advertisers.
By Marc Berman
Source:mediaweek.com

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