Who Really Won American Idol? Scotty or Lauren?

Update: The morning after!
CONGRATULATIONS, SCOTTY!

Courtesy USA Today

I'm just a little miffed, right now. With Scotty McCreery from my neck of the woods, I have supported him with my votes from the beginning. He's a wonderful young man with a bright future and I thoroughly enjoy his singing. And, I also enjoy Lauren's singing -- not as much as Hayley, but, then, again, they're all in the Top Ten and have a year's worth of touring to make their mark. American Idol is a show that allows young people a chance to side-step the serious work of a career and jump right into all the horrors that come from being plunged into that position, while the wheelers and dealers fill their pockets.

I really believe that's one of the reasons most of them fade into oblivion. There's no solid base to work from and the whole family gets caught up in the chaos of suddenly available fame and money. Your mid-teens show you can sing -- but the mid-teens have nothing to do with the maturity to run your own career, see through the charlatans and hangers-on who will whittle away your money, and all the new "friends" who will disappear at the first sign of your not picking up the check. If your family hasn't dealt with large sums of money, they don't develop the skill the moment you win the title. And, more importantly, you haven't LIVED enough to give a good song a solid telling of its story -- a reason, I believe, that most of today's songs are nothing more than the same phrase being repeated over and over to a great beat. (BOY! I really am miffed.)

So, to make a short story even longer, American Idol is a competition and should be treated as such. I think Scotty made a huge mistake in being a gentleman and giving song delivery placement choice to Lauren. This is when being a nice guy shoots you in the foot. Was his special song great? No, but it was a nice country song and folks will enjoy it. Was Lauren's song great? Oh, yes -- as only a true country tearjerker can be -- short of singing about Jesus or someone dying young.

But Scotty did his job and sang his songs. Lauren showed her true immaturity - personal and physical -- for the job ahead. Her voice doesn't have the strength to perform under heavy conditions. She's nervous and has missed more than she has succeeded -- yet, Haley (a far superior singer) lost out because she dared be her best at what she does and show some confidence. No one has ever taken issue with the judge's and made it to the finish.

So, Lauren (or, her people) decide she needs help. Did she have a vocal chord problem; yes. Did we need to know? No. But, let's put out a story that she probably won't be able to sing on the final night of competition. Well, that will bring in viewers. Yup. Oh, wait, let's make sure the viewers all know about her problem at the top of the show -- and, that she's bravely ready to carry on. Now, let's bring on the doctor to make sure we all understand that she's able to go on! Well, folks, for those of you who don't know, professional singers/entertainers have this problem all the time, and it's taken care of behind the scenes -- the audience doesn't have to be told, because the show goes on, without trying for the sympathy vote. And, if that isn't enough, we're going to go for one more pity vote. Let's let Lauren, hand-held by Ryan, walk down the stairs to her Mother (in the MIDDLE of her final competition song!) and with teary-eyes let them embrace, so that we all understand just what a difficult obstacle she's overcome to be here for this moment. Okay. It was a great song but a very heavy-handed biased presentation.

Why am I miffed? (Just so you know, I'm not alone, here. There have been too many complaints from other voters online, as well.) I tried over and over to cast my online vote (calling and texting, as well) and simply couldn't get through, ever! When you picked Scotty to vote for, the screen just locked up. I tried for almost two hours -- longer than the average old lady would ever do it, but I'm tenacious and had a mission. For some of those who made it through, according to the commenters, they were immediately greeted with a screen that said, "Thank You for your vote for Number Two!" That was Lauren's number. She had all the even numbers! Scotty had the odd numbers. Even though you are told you could vote up to 50 times (WTF?) for your favorite, you couldn't even get into a screen to cast your first vote. Then, for the few who did make it through, they get thanked for voting for Lauren! I'm usually not the suspicious type, but this same foolishness happened when we tried to vote for Fantasia, a few years ago. In fact, the number belonged to a private individual who wasn't the least bit happy about all the calls. By the time they got that problem straightened out, the voting was over.

Something is just not right. Until you can actually see the demographics and voting results, you can only take the word of the producers. But, when you are prevented from voting and there's been a declared favorite, you start getting that funny feeling... I hope and pray that Scotty wins because he did it by following the rules, and he's a local boy. But, if Lauren wins, I'll never believe it was a fair vote -- and, that's too bad. I still think the whole premise of American Idol is ludicrous because the voters never back up their votes with spending their money for recordings; but, it should still be fairly done.

I will wait, with America, to whoop or weep.

Reality Shows Are About Whose Reality, Again?

Been rewatching my tapes of the So You Think You Can Dance series and have fallen in love, again, with Benji. I hold firmly to my belief that that young man can dance to anything and doesn't have any bones connected to anything! Funny how no one really wanted him in the beginning. Doesn't it make you wonder what planet the judges come from, other than trying to revive old careers? The public invariably picks someone other than the one they declared would be the winner. Hmmmm. What does that say about the judges, about the critics, about Americans? Do we really care less about quality and training and more about looks?

I know these shows are all about entertaining us but aren't they also supposed to be about finding the absolute best performer? With American Idol just around the corner, Ruben Studdard comes to mind. He was all right. A perfect karaoke singer who was capable of following a tune. There was literally nothing special about him -- except, maybe, his girth.

The man would literally just stand there and sing in his sing-along-to-the-radio voice and Simon, Randy, and Paula would fall all over themselves trying to outdo each other in giving him accolades.

Good grief! The American viewers put him in the bottom three to go home at least three times! Yet, the judges kept telling us how dumb we were and how great Ruben was. I recall one session, especially, where they were doing the songs and all three judges attacked Clay Aiken for not moving around enough on stage during his performance. He was followed by Ruben, who barely moved, at all, was sweating like crazy, voice raw and cracking, and they went crazy with their praise and never once mentioned that he should have moved around more on the stage to try to engage his audience. Double standard?

Today, his records aren't doing the bang-up job expected and he's just won a lawsuit against his manager for mishandling of funds. Fantasia Barrino's records are selling in the middle range, and Clay Aiken has already returned to North Carolina. There'll be tours, but nothing like it was in the beginning.

Kelly Clarkson has moved into the stratosphere, to stay. She's the full package. In my opinion, this proves that you can't shove "stars" down the people's throats.

Those in the final top ten get their piece of the pie, as well. The runners-up have managed to carve their own niche in the music world, as well. Carrie Underwood has taken the Country world by storm and you can hear her latest Don't Forget to Remember Me song here. And Diana DeGarmo, from the 2004 American Idol season is now touring the country in Broadway: The Musical after debuting on Broadway in Hairspray.

My point is, the people make the final judgment, once all the hoopla of a TV show is over. It's a great platform for aspiring stars and they should understand that, from the beginning. Those that treat it as a perfectly normal event in the course of their lives are foolish, indeed.

Ask anyone who's been working their whole lives for recognition how easy it really is -- and, 22 years old isn't someone's whole life. Taylor Hicks (another dark horse, according to the judges) is on the far edge of a very young group, all things considered, and has really paid his dues. And, he was my favorite! Although, I will admit it helped in validating that grey hair was perfectly okay; especially, since it knocked about ten years off my life! But, truth be told, I like to see winners who really know what the struggle is all about finally have good things happen to them.

So, the new season starts this month and I'll be watching, along with everyone else. I'll pick my favorites and see how close my pick comes in at the end. And, that will be fun. But, nothing compares to watching the auditions! Nothing. It's the gravy on a great talent audition show.

Of course, I'm also laying in lots of popcorn for the Donald's show, The Apprentice, on Sunday. These are my three favorite reality shows, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, and The Apprentice -- because, they actually lead up to a long-term positive change in the applicant's life.

Most of the other shows offer celebrity fame, which means we're going to be forced to watch them for the rest of their lives show up for guest appearances on whatever the current talk/game show might be, not because of anything they did requiring skill, craft, or intelligence, showing they have at least put some of their own effort into the competition, but because they were pretty to look at during their fifteen minutes of fame. Aaarrrggghhhh.