American Idol 8 - Random Thoughts

A new episode of American Idol is four days away, when another group of 12 will perform in front of the judges and most importantly, America. As we head into the weekend, there are a few topics I wanted to bring up in regards to the show. First off is Danny Gokey, the crowned "front-runner" by producers of American Idol. I guess I am kind of on the fence about the guy. You could probably blame the onslaught of negativity Danny has received from a variety of on-line entities, in the form of blogs and magazines about the show. People are claiming that Danny has been "over-pimped" by the producers of American Idol. So far during the show, what is Danny most known for? Probably not so much for his singing, but for the fact that his wife died four weeks prior to his audition. Again, we saw another reminder of Danny's tragic situation when a family friend held up a small picture of Danny and his deceased wife during the last result's show. By no means do I wish to belittle the situation that Danny has been put through. To lose the love of your live at such a young age has got to be unbelievably heartbreaking. But I can't help but think it's continuing to be shoved down our throats every time the guy shows up on the screen. And yes, I did stick up for the guy in my last recap thread as I thought the negativity he's received was unjust. I don't particularly feel it's his fault that it keeps being brought up, either. Does it hurt his chances in the long run of him becoming the next American Idol if it continues to be brought up week after week? Indeed I do. The early favorite of this season could wind up being eliminated much earlier than we can imagine - and he's already lost some support because of it. Personally, I don't believe Danny himself should be criticized for what's going on. People claim he's been acting too smug or self-centered in most recent episodes. Hey, maybe the guy likes the camera? But so far I cannot totally fault Danny in how the producers have portrayed him. Sure, he could probably handle himself a little better on camera; be a little more grateful and not be so preachy. However, he still has a tremendous fan base for someone this early into the competition and that should carry him well into the top 12.

Now, as for my final opinion on the new format that Idol has embraced for choosing it's top 12; I gotta say I do not like it. As in previous years, the judges/producers have whittled the competition down from a top 50 to top 24. Once we reached the semi-finals, the top 12 guys or girls perform, and the two contestants with the least amount of votes were sent packing. This went on until we got to the top 12. I liked it this way because we got to see more of the contestants each week as opposed to just seeing them sing one time before they get selected to the top 12, if they happen to perform well. Those contestants who weren't shown auditioning or didn't get much screen time in Hollywood week could at least display more of their skills in the semi-finals and build a fan support. We hardly knew anything about Jason Castro last season prior to him being selected to the top 24, and look where he ended up? The top four. So for contestants this season like Ricky Braddy and Stephen Fowler, whom we didn't really get to know all that well prior to the semi-finals, they are at more of a disadvantage more than ever before. In Ricky's case, he performed quite well, even better than Michael Sarver, in my opinion. But it was his lack of screen time that really did him in. And that's unfortunate. Hopefully the judges end up handing him a wildcard, because he and Anoop Desai deserve another chance. So hopefully next season, American Idol will realize what a big mistake this top 36 format is and revert back to what has done so well in previous seasons. I'd hate to see a singer like Michael Sarver make it in only because of a Simon Cowell lifeline.

I must admit, during my years of watching this show, I've learned a few TV slang words and phrases that I knew absolutely nothing about. Last year, I saw "TPTB" show up quite often on message boards and in blogs. I didn't know what that stood for, and it honestly bothered me! Someone with the same curiousity as me happened to create a new topic on a message board addressing that very issue, "what does TPTB mean?" For those that may not know, it's "the power's that be," i.e. the producers or anyone with creative control of a show. Within the last week, I've learned of another phrase people have used when talking about certain American Idol contestants. The phrase is "cannon fodder." It's most notably a military phrase as Wikipedia states, "an informal term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds (with the foreknowledge that they will suffer extremely high casualties) in an effort to achieve a strategic goal." In the American Idol world, it refers to those contestants who get very little screentime prior to the live shows, such as Ricky Braddy or Stevie Wright. Basically, it comes down to a contestant being chosen just because they needed to fill that slot - because they have absolutely no shot of becoming the next American Idol, at the fault of the producers. A contestant may be a great singer, get very little screen time, and receive mediocre comments from the judges (kind of like Braddy, even though he received praise from all of the judges except for Simon). Then the follow night, they get eliminated. You compare that to a Danny Gokey or Michael Sarver, who have had a ton of screen time in prior rounds and one may not have sung exceptionally well. Yet, that fan recognition helps get them into the next round. Hopefully that makes even better sense when I try to compare the two.

Well, that is about all I had to say in regards to American Idol for this week. Even though Anoop Desai wasn't selected for the top 12 this time around, he's almost a lock for a wildcard spot. Danny and Alexis were shoo-ins for the top 12 and with Simon's help, Michael got that extra push. Next week should prove to be another very intriguing week of performances. Hopefully more contestants will step up and deliver some memorable performances. You can bet that I'll have the recap right afterwards.