In a recent post, a visitor left me a comment that involved the racial politics of American Idol. It got me thinking about the first major accusation of racism against the show (not that I am implying that racism is present, I’m just asking an open-ended question).

When Jennifer Hudson was voted off, there was such a public uproar that the question of racism was immediately raised. Even Elton John got involved in the debate, despite the fact that, of the six remaining contestants, at the time, three were black (Fantasia Barrino, La Toya London and George Huff). Ruben Studdard, also …read more

“The girls ripped it up and the guys through it down.” – Ryan Seacrest
Time for four more to go home. I’m really read for the narrowing down of contestants and getting to the point where we can see more of the ones that can really sing. Special guest and former idol tonight will be Kellie Pickler.
WOW! Over 32,000,000 votes came in this week. Here are my picks for tonight’s losers:
Guys:

Sanjaya Malakar
Brandon Rogers

Girls:

Alaina Alexander
Antonella Barba

The group song tonight is “Joy to the World”, not the holiday themed song of the same title either. This is the one about Jeremiah being a …read more

Ryan starts off the show by congratulating Jennifer Hudson for her Oscar, American Idol’s first! Jeff Foxworthy is in the audience tonight. Is it country night? After seeing Sanjaya Malakar’s outfit, I’m putting my money down on him singing a Michael Jackson song. We’re quickly reducing the field of contestants to 6. The lowest two vote getters will be going home, leaving us with eight. Tonight’s show has the contestants dedicating their song to the people that inspire them.
Phil Stacey: 29 from Jacksonville, FL
Phil Stacey sings “I Ain’t Missing You At All” by John Waite. I still think this guy …read more

Thanks for coming back for the next six contestants.
Up first is Blake Lewis, the beat-boxer, I like him I just want to hear more of his voice. He says he’s going to highlight his voice and only break-out the beat boxing “here and there”. He’s definitely doing that. His tone is so great on this song, which I’m not sure about the title of right now. Not a single sound effect out of his mouth at all except for his clean and smooth voice.
Randy said he “dug” it. Paula said his vocals were dead on. Simon didn’t think it was …read more