Postmortem Idol Thoughts
I had trouble writing this post all week and have erased it and started over many times. I first wanted to write a scathing review of the heartbreak that was Wednesday night. I had, and still do, a lot of feelings toward the debate on sexuality that was present throughout this season. My good friend Tony over at queer messages wrote a few things about the American Idol results that I tend to agree with. There is a large part of me that believes that many voter weren’t ready to crown a flamboyant, presumably gay and gender-bending boy who wears makeup as their “american idol.” The Danny Gokey loyalists probably switched in high numbers to Kris Allen for many reasons. When I see the likes of Ted Haggard and other reverends and spiritual leaders twittering their love for Kris and having a “believer” win, I have to think that there is a lot of truth to all of this. While I was upset by the results, I do happen to like Kris Allen and hope that people can have a reasonable discussion about this without alienating him. A few days of reflection has caused me to be a bit more diplomatic than I originally intended to be in this post.
My main fear in having the discussion of the effect of Adam’s sexuality is that it’ll unfairly peg Kris as a homophobe. Guilty by association, I guess. But Kris showed multiple times his appreciation for Adam as a friend and competitor, almost so much that it makes me think he might have been quickly trying to squash any rumors of a feud. Kris was humble and respectful in his win and I hope those who are upset with Adam’s loss recognize that. Did middle America swing from Danny to Kris because of sexuality? I have to think it’s highly likely. But this isn’t Kris’ fault. The media spent months trying to tell a narrative about their relationship that wasn’t truthful or honest. Though it is sad to think that many Americans are still harboring prejudices toward the LGBT community, I’m going to move on. Kris was a great competitor and should be congratulated for his win. He was one of my early favorites, second to Adam of course, so I can only be pleased at his success.
That being said, those of us in the Glambert Nation should be happy for many reasons. Adam is a true performer and I’m certain he’ll have incredibly success regardless of the Idol loss. Additionally, he might not be as boxed in attached to AI and will be able to be a bit more authentic and creative than past winners. Adam gave us multiple tremendous performances this season, including an incredible moment with KISS in the finale. I can’t wait to see what he does as he continues in his success. Bitter as we could be, we should take lessons from the runner-up himself, who seems only grateful to have gotten this far.
There are a lot of reasons why I personally have stayed clear of this discussion and AMERICAN IDOL for that matter and it all comes down to the same reason.
I never wanted to get into AI mainly because Im not into most of the music they do on the show, there is a degree of cheese, I get embarrassed FOR people so it was all a bit too much for me.
THAT BEING SAID, I did seriously get into it for a few seasons. I did MYSELF a favor of staying clear of the preliminary trials (again I cant watch the torture of humiliation) and would just watch the finals. I would get a favorite. Everyone else I knew liked the same person. They would end up being the favorite. Then there was the second person. Who was ALSO doing a great job but just not my cup of tea.
The few seasons I would watch I noticed the SAME THING. Whoever I WANTED to win. Whoever EVERYONE I KNEW wanted to win, would be the runner up and middle america would vote for the person that CLEARLY isnt who to be honest the entertainment industry would have chosen.
I talk smack about the entertainment industry a lot. I have issues with them but the one thing I agree with, is when you are looking for a new artist, you look for someone who is edgy and different. Meanwhile most of the population who votes for the winner I have learned are the same people who voted for Dubya for 2 terms. I mean the fact that we got Obama, as happy as I am, still impresses me.
I hadnt watched this season. I stopped watching about 2 seasons ago. However I was very aware of Adam and I knew he more than likely deserved it therefore I knew he wouldnt win. Sad but true. However I do believe in the Aiken Revolt, as I like to call it. Despite being in runner up, I do have faith his career will be more out there than Kris but I do wish them the best of luck either way.
I know this was long, but I am sick and had to say what was in my head.
The problem with diplomatic is..it’s boring. What I wasn’t clear about is the following: I don’t know Kris Allen, but I bet he is a cool cat (Adam L. even seems to like him, and I did not get that impression from Adam L. re: Gokey). Allen also has a fine voice, etc, etc. What I reacted to was my construction of the event: a contest between the normal and different…the predictable and the innovative. I am well aware of all the reasons why one would desire to be normal and have the normal: it’s easy, it sells to a lot more people, etc. But it’s not thoughtful, challenging, paradigm shifting…it does not make us think; in fact, the normal reinforces ways of thinking that should be thought about and punishes those who do not “go with the flow.” I am done with it. My understanding of what happened also seems to be confirmed by a lot of the commentary about Kris: Christian, cute, married, etc. So I should have been clearer about that…Kris, however, is not really a star…in the sense of M. Jackson, etc. He’s what we can buy and not feel any thing about…We can listen to him on the way to work with feeling like our world is not quite as it should be…
Tony, I agree with everything you have said, I just wish to not beat a dead horse. I also wish to not assign blame to Kris Allen. That was my point. I think I raised the validity of your opinion and others with regards to homophobia while not wanting to continue the rant and polarize Kris. That’s all.
I got your point
… I am not that dense…most days. I was trying to say that I agree with you and that I was not really responding to Kris, etc. I responding to something more abstract…so there. 
I guess it’s still somewhat shocking to me that people make decisions about other people based on their sexual preference. this is probably because i’ve always been in fairly liberal atmospheres and i don’t have to deal with it personally – so i didn’t even think about adam’s sexuality for most of this season…until it started popping up online. I just thought he was amazing =)
actually, i think kris has the harder job now. he has to break past the american idol pop-crap and sing that awful song kara wrote.