Why I Will Never Watch American Idol Again

I know, I know.

What? You did what? Are you stupid?

You don’t have to tell me. Read the title! I’ve learned my lesson.

Before this season, I’d never watched American Idol. I’d tuned it out as a glorified karaoke contest, ignored it and gone along my merry way.

I did buy a Kelly Clarkson album and consider myself a fan of hers. I also like Daughtry. However, two palatable artists in seven seasons of artists is not a good record.

This year was different. This year had Kris Allen. I’m from Central Arkansas and work for the same company as Kris’ Mom. I absolutely could not escape Kris Allen. His picture was posted in our elevators every Tuesday on a flyer encouraging us to watch the show and, of course, vote for Kris.

Finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I watched the results show last Wednesday. Then I was hooked. I DVR’d the show last night and flipped my way through it, sparing myself the last song which was absolutely atrocious. I think both contestants are so adorable, really are good singers and seem like two very nice people.

So, why am I never watching again? Two words: The Internet.

I like reading. So, I started reading articles about the competition and, boy howdy, did it harsh my mellow. People hating on Kris because he’s a “Christian Hick” people hating on Adam because he’s a “godless gay”. Ugh.

I read through several so-called articles in which the writers said little to nothing about the singer’s abilities and focused almost entirely on politics. One even went so far as to describe the race entirely in political terms.

If you read this blog, you know I live in Central Arkansas and you know that I’m a Christian. I adore Adam Lambert. I can’t help it, he’s adorable. I work in theater as an amateur but can recognize stage presence and theatricality. He’s an amazing showman.

Kris is very different. Kris is a musician. His focus always seems to be on bringing out the melody, not on theatrics. He comes across as very sincere and has the ability to connect with an audience in a more subtle and moving way more often than Adam.

At the same time, Adam’s exciting theatrics are off putting to some people who find him fake and Kris’ quiet sincerity come across to many people as just plain dull. They tend to appeal in very different ways to very different people.

However, this doesn’t matter to anyone. All they want to talk about is if Adam is gay and why, if he loses, it won’t be because Kris is a better performer but only because of homophobia.

That really gets me hot under the collar.

I want to think that, if Kris wins, it was because his quiet sincerity and musicality appealed to slightly more people than Adam’s exciting energy and theatrics. Or, if Adam wins, it was because people accepted that he was putting on a show and didn’t find him “fake” and were inclined to go get a sandwich or take a quick nap during Kris’ performances.

The comments of the authors of articles and the comments made regarding those articles lead me to believe that there are people out there not voting for Kris or Adam but against one or the other. There are people out there who voted for Kris because they’re spiteful hateful little minds who can’t stand the idea of Adam being gay. There are people out there who voted for Adam because they’re spiteful hateful little minds who can’t stand the idea of Kris being a Christian.

The fact that people are voting against a contestant, instead of for a contestant, has truly made this a political event and I’ve had enough of politics.

And that is why I’ll never, ever watch American Idol again.