American Idol vs. American Politics

Nothing displeases me more than reading inaccurate reporting. Needless to say I'm displeased about ten times a day. Last week I was reading an article after the American Idol announcement of "David vs. David" which should be quite the "Cook" off. Haha. Anyhow, the idiot reporter once again forwarded the notion that over 63 million votes were cast, which were "more votes than President Bush" received in the 2004 election, attempting to lead us to believe that American Idol receives more votes than the General Election. There are also several articles discussing the low ratings this season pontificating that talented singers bring lower ratings, and that the ratings have reached 21 million viewers - which is the lowest it's ever hit.

Let's look at voting statistics and how we vote for American Idol. In the General Election adults over the age of 18 vote for one candidate of their choice. A grand total of 122,267,553 people voted in 2004 (50% of adults over 18). One fifth of the population watches American Idol. And of that one fifth, we can assume some of those viewers are under the voting age of 18 (although the average age of an Idol viewer is actually 42). Let's not forget the most important fact - you can vote multiple times in an American Idol election for 2 hours. So...a 12 year old girl calls in as many times as she wants for 20 minutes. And you can vote for several candidates if you like several contestants.You can't do any of this when voting for President. Why isn't someone sending mail bombs to these reporters?!!

Here's another fun fact: If you don't have T-mobile, the American Idol sponsor, you might as well be black/woman/Indian in the 1800's - your vote doesn't even count. My roommate and I were both trying to vote one night. She has T-mobile, I have Sprint. I couldn't get through once out of 20 calls. She got through every single time without fail. She voted 20 times. I thought I was dialing the wrong number, but I wasn't. I thought maybe I hadn't paid my phone bill, or maybe my service wasn't working, but no - she had a preferential vote. ERRONEOUS! Half the time most people are apathetic anyway, so those 21 - 30 million viewers aren't even voting. We put our votes in the hands of 10 million teenie boppers voting for hours. Awesome. These are facts that I am embarrassed to admit by the way. Please don't mention this to me in person. I will deny these facts despite I published this on the web.

Now, let's say I have the ability to vote tonight, despite the fact I have Sprint. Who should I vote for multiple times so that my vote actually counts? Should I vote on his body of work, tonight's performance, or charisma? This is a tough one!

Let's look at the two candidates: David Cook. Rocker. He started out totally an emo joke that I totally made fun of with Tibbitts when we were watching. Pink streaks in his emover, good voice, and I admit his first rendition of "Happy Together" made me realize - he had something. I knew he was going far when I heard his composition and strong voice. He's a little quiet, sometimes arrogant, and I think he'd do better without Idol on his back. I also think he's had a better Idol makeover - he's kind of homely without the staff directing him. Sometimes his risks aren't great either - a few times I think he's totally bombed, but other times I think he's been the best.

Then there's David Archuleta. Young and innocent and Mormon like myself. Less of a risk taker and dependable but you always know he's going to churn out a stellar performance. An angelic voice that I really like despite the fact that I generally am more of a "David Cook" type listener - but Archuleta actually has a McCartney like voice so it's not surprising that I do identify with his voice, and he does update a lot of songs. He also has that story - he had a disease that struck his vocal chords and then he miraculously got his voice back and now can sing like a god. I thought he was going to suck during auditions, and he blew me away...so...I like him a lot.

Last week I thought they both sucked. Cook did slightly better. So I decided I would go on itunes and see who I downloaded more of after sampling their songs. Who did I download more of? Surprisingly enough...Archuleta! Why? He chose more songs I was unfamiliar with so I wanted them. I'll admit there were a few songs Cook didn't have available - had they been I probably would have downloaded them making the two tied. So actually the experiment didn't work. With the charisma angle - they also tie - Mormon vs. Rocker. I like them both. So my vote comes down to tonight's performance. Whoever I think does better gets my votes. There's one thing I know for sure. David will win.

Does this translate into this political election? David Cook seems to bring a lot of change, Archuleta a little more conservative with a bit of liberal streak...Obama vs. McCain? Could the American Idol results predict our General Election results in November? Only time will tell...