Hey just for the record, I think this is the first time I've started a thread on Hatrack! Even though I've been around for a while. Yay!
Anyway:
What I was thinking, what that it might be better if we voted for the person we thought SHOULD go off, instead of the person we thought should NOT go off. If they did it that way, you would actually have to think about who deserved to go home, not just say "Oh I like you and you and you."
Just to explain why I started thinking about this: I think one of the main problems with American Idol is that some/most of the way WE judge them is by their personality and their appearance, not wholly by the way they sing. Obviously the way the judges react has some effect on how we vote, (and the judges are also influenced by their personality and appearance, even if they try not to be) but I think mainly we vote for the ones who are likeable and good-looking, and can sing FAIRLY well.
Even though we don't think we do it, we all subconsiously discriminate against certain people, and I think this DOES effect the voting. For example, Mandisa was clearly one of the best singers in the show and I know without a doubt that she would still be in it if she were skinny. Also, there was that person, I think her name was Melissa, she wasn't stunningly beautiful like the rest of the female contestants but she was a heck of a good singer and very likeable. She was gone so long ago we bearly remember her.
Here's the reason I think voting for the one you want off would partially help this: Nobody actually WANTED Mandisa off. It was just that they all shied away from voting for her because she was large. Remember when Ryan annouced that she was going home? Everyone was stunned. It was like, Wait a minute...We don't actually WANT Mandisa to go home! When presented with the choice, no one would choose to vote for Mandisa going home.
And besides, there's always someone who messes up really badly in any given week. They're the ones who deserve to go home and they stand out. Even if you're not sure who did BEST, you always know who did WORST.
Of course, there are problems with this...For example, no one's going to vote for their favorite to go home, even if they did really bably. Also, becoming the American Idol DOES depend partially on your personality....you have to be likeable, have good people skills, AND be a good singer. But I think we agree that it shouldn't have to depend on your appearance, since its one thing about ourselves we can't really change.
So maybe there are equally as many problems with both ways....But I think it would be neat if they tried it this way for one year, just to see how it works out. After all, the best way to get the best results is variation.
Get me?
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
I don't think people didn't vote for Mandisa because she was large, they didn't vote for her because they figured she was getting enough votes and they should save their voting time for others they thought would get voted off.
And though it was the first night I watched AI this season, I think Melissa got voted off because she forgot her lyrics. So why would they vote for someone who didn't take the time to learn the words to her song.
Other than that,your post is a pretty good idea (of course it might get more reception in the normal ai thread).
Edit: and I just looked it up, you've posted 2 other threads.
Posted by Soara (Member # 6729) on :
I have??? Wow there goes my memory...
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I never watched any of the Idol shows until last year's RockStar version on CBS. The one where INXS picked out a new lead singer (ick JD...) And I'm planning to at least give the coming season's new version a try. This time Ted Nugent, Sebastian Bach, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Jason Bonham and some other guy whose name escapes me are looking for a 6th member for their "supergroup", Damnocracy.
However, Bas made a comment on his website that has basically confirmed my suspicions that the whole voting thing was a farce... and I should probably put a spoiler on this...
s p o i l e r
(paraphrasing) "We just finished taping the first 7 eps of us discussing the contestants' performances". The implication was that they taped all 7 back to back, but I may have misread that. Anyway, if they've filmed these eps before the program even premieres (which is this coming Sunday), then obviously any voting to keep or eliminate is worthless because the elimination is already set in stone several weeks ahead of time.
e n d
spoiler
I'll still watch at least the first week or two and see how it goes, but I'm not falling for the rest of it. And I still refuse to watch the original version with Simon... LOL
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Soara, I think what you're suggesting would ruin one of the things I like most about AI: the sense of commardary in the face of competition. By that I mean that the contestants are all in competition with each other but have no incentive at all to backbite or play Apprentice-like games to make it to the next round. They go in on their performance each week and try to be as appealing as possible to garner votes and good reviews from the judges. If all they had to do was make someone else look bad, I think it's very possible what I like so much would be ruined.
As for Mandisa going...there was some speculation that she lost a block of votes from her fanbase because of comments she made the previous week about how God could cure any lifestyle. She says that her comment was about her struggle with overeating, not about homosexual relationships but I could certainly see how it could have been interpreted badly. I think, though, that she was a victim of several things: two bad weeks, a very unfortunate fashion choice the week she was voted off, and a certain number of people who thought that everyone else was voting for her, so they concentrated on their second favorites.
I think the latter reason was why Chris went so early too. Taylor is my favorite but I have only voted for him one of the weeks. And that was more to check to see if he had a high busy signal ratio than an actual intent to vote for him.
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Soara: What I was thinking, what that it might be better if we voted for the person we thought SHOULD go off, instead of the person we thought should NOT go off.
Had this been the policy, Fantasia wouldn't have lasted two weeks in season 3. Most of the top singers tend to be polarizing, with a faction loving them and another hating them. For that matter, fans of one singer would be likely to vote against the ones seen as the biggest threat. The proposed method would thus lead to the most mediocre and least memorable being the ones to survive. Not to mention changing the entire dynamic from being supportive to being cutthroat. No thanks.
(Aside: I myself did -- and do -- dislike Fantasia's vocal quality, for the same reason that I dislike everything by Macy Gray. That said, even I have to admit that when it came to effort, song selection, continued improvement, and swinging for the fences, she was the best finalist Idol's ever had in any season.)
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
Mandisa got voted off because they had country music and Queen back to back. No one with taste was watching those weeks. I only have myself to blame.
Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :
I can see this way of voting from the producers' point of view also. They don't want the person who is hated least to win. They want the person who is loved most. Theoretically, if you like a person enough to vote for them, you're more likely to like them enough to buy their album. And since they have to give the winner a record deal, they're going to want a winner based on who people rabidly love enough to pick up the phone for them, rather than based on who people don't hate enough that they'll ignore them into the next round.
Also, the act of spending an evening voting for someone is likely to engender a feeling of camaraderie that will hopefully carry over to your next trip to Wal-Mart or Best Buy. Seeing a CD with a picture of someone you voted for is probably more likely to inspire a purchase than seeing a CD with a picture of someone you failed to vote against.
Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :
quote:Originally posted by Soara: (and the judges are also influenced by their personality and appearance, even if they try not to be)
When have they ever tried not to be? If I had a dime for every time I heard a judge say something along the lines of "you sang the song well, but your outfit is hideous and you're too boring/annoying to make it through" (or vice-versa), I'd be able to afford all the AI winners' albums.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
quote:Originally posted by Goody Scrivener: I never watched any of the Idol shows until last year's RockStar version on CBS. The one where INXS picked out a new lead singer (ick JD...) And I'm planning to at least give the coming season's new version a try. This time Ted Nugent, Sebastian Bach, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Jason Bonham and some other guy whose name escapes me are looking for a 6th member for their "supergroup", Damnocracy.
However, Bas made a comment on his website that has basically confirmed my suspicions that the whole voting thing was a farce... and I should probably put a spoiler on this...
s p o i l e r
(paraphrasing) "We just finished taping the first 7 eps of us discussing the contestants' performances". The implication was that they taped all 7 back to back, but I may have misread that. Anyway, if they've filmed these eps before the program even premieres (which is this coming Sunday), then obviously any voting to keep or eliminate is worthless because the elimination is already set in stone several weeks ahead of time.
e n d
spoiler
I'll still watch at least the first week or two and see how it goes, but I'm not falling for the rest of it. And I still refuse to watch the original version with Simon... LOL
This isn't actually the new season of Rockstar. It is pretty much the same concept, but this season of Rockstar focusses on the group Suprnova formed by Gilby Clarke (Guns 'n' Roses), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), and Jason Newsted (Metallica, Voivod). They are picking a singer for the group.
This Damnocracy one is actually called Supergroup and it is a VH1 show. It sounds interesting as well but I don't know much about it.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
Pooka, that's not quite right. Mandisa didn't get to do Queen because she was voted off on Country week. I think what did her in was choosing a gospel song for her 21st century selection, then having country music week afterward.
Posted by Kristen (Member # 9200) on :
Even though AI is a singing competition, I still think people overplay the necessity for excellent vocal quality in the contestants. As a lover of opera and broadway, most of the contestants voices aren't particularly wonderful to me. While many pop artists have good voices (and some wonderful ones), more importantly, their voices are interesting and memorable. Mandisa had considerable belting talent, but her voice wasn't particularly unique (IMHO) and I think that is why a lot of people didn't support her. I, personally, found Paris' jazzy voice a lot more appealing. It was different-- which why I love Taylor so much.
That being said, I definitely think image plays a large role in the voting and if Mandisa had another kind of look, or Bucky, or Ace, they would all have had a very different experiences.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
quote:This isn't actually the new season of Rockstar. It is pretty much the same concept, but this season of Rockstar focusses on the group Suprnova formed by Gilby Clarke (Guns 'n' Roses), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), and Jason Newsted (Metallica, Voivod). They are picking a singer for the group.
This Damnocracy one is actually called Supergroup and it is a VH1 show. It sounds interesting as well but I don't know much about it.
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