Question: Is "American Idol" racist?

[mikey11]

To be honest I stop watching American Idol during that Sanjaya Malakar bruhaha. But rumors continue to persists: American Idol is a tad bit racist.

For the last four years running the winners have this similarity: White Guy With Guitar (aka WGWG):


And this year, that trend just might continue. One of the finalists is someone called Phillip Phillips AKA PheePhee (yes that's his name) and yes he is a White Guy With Guitar:

So what do you think? Is American Idol racist? or is this just a natural progression being AI voters are largely American with majority white population? You be the judge.

 

[Gloomy_Sunday44]

I think it has more to do with the show's demographic which include teeny boppers, middle aged women, and a lot of voters from the South.
I am pretty tired of the bland WGWG winners but I'm really hoping that this will be the year AI will get it's 6th female winner.

 

[pointguy36]

Interesting question. . .but to honest, I really thought Joshua was a bad singer (very good performer!) - he seemed to scream most of the time.

I really like Jessica - she has the better voice and more popular appeal, but the gay man in me likes Phillip - he has a cool vibe!

Just my two cents

 

[josh_the_hot_boy]

American Idol racist maybe but I don't really think so. The Bachelor 100% I mean have you ever seen a black guy on there ever.

 

[jw4833]

I stop watching the show for this reason as well..and honestly, some of those guitar guys that have won..you have not heard from them since they've won the show and released their debut CD. That says a lot to me...there has been some incredible singers when I was watching the show that just made it to third or fourth place..and the most simple, basic singer have always been the one that won since Kelly, Ruben, and Fantasia.

 

[kevs]

No way, what about Joshua, Jennifer, Fantasia and the others black idols?

 

[nature1490]

I could not even tell you since I have only caught like 3 - 6 episodes the entire time it has been on the air. Most of that was prior to Rueben winning the prize.

 

[Gloomy_Sunday44]

I stop watching the show for this reason as well..and honestly, some of those guitar guys that have won..you have not heard from them since they've won the show and released their debut CD. That says a lot to me...there has been some incredible singers when I was watching the show that just made it to third or fourth place..and the most simple, basic singer have always been the one that won since Kelly, Ruben, and Fantasia.

Carrie Underwood is doing very well for herself and she was one of the stronger singers and performers that year so I'm happy with her win. I did like Bo Bice more as an artist but that guy wasn't winner material.

I would hardly call Taylor Hicks simple or basic, just an outright commercial disaster. He belonged in the independent scene which is why he made an awful winner.

Jordin Sparks was great on the show but I didn't like her 2 albums. No Air is an amazing song though.

Then we get to season 7. Between the generic rocker, Cook and the seemingly asexual, squeaky clean Archuleta, this was where Idol really started to go downhill for me. This season had a chance at having a solid Top 2 but all the great ones exited while two bland Davids battled it out in the finale.

Season 8 was a nice change of pace with having 36 instead of 24. That allowed for some colorful contestants to compete in the semis but unfortunately, I didn't think the Top 12 was a strong as could be.

Season 9 was just god awful with the exception of Mama Sox, Lilly Scott (robbed of a Top 12 spot) and maybe Siobhan Magnus.

Season 10 had some incredible talent but the order in which people were eliminated was just insane. The cool reggae chick, Naima and the jazzy girl, Thia both leaving on the same night. Pia Toscano placing 9th?:duh:

 

[Erik]

I think it has more to do with the show's demographic which include teeny boppers, middle aged women, and a lot of voters from the South.

Yep, I think you nailed it. The audience is filled with 9-year-old girls who love nothing more than to send in 10,000 text votes for the guy who they think is the "dreamiest". If anyone thinks that sending in 1 or 2 votes can compete with a barrage of pre-teens texting as fast as they can for the cutest guy for 2 solid hours, well... and I think that also explains why so many talented women get voted off the show faster than they should be.

I used to watch once in a while, but after Adam Lambert actually LOST to some other guy it was pretty clear that talent had less to do with it than the fact that the other guy was prettier. (And hetero.)

(I'm also more than a little disappointed at how lousy some of Adam Lambert's post-Idol releases have been, considering how good he was when he was on the show, but that's another topic for another day!)

 

[cybershyguy29]

I think it has more to do with the show's demographic which include teeny boppers, middle aged women, and a lot of voters from the South.
I am pretty tired of the bland WGWG winners but I'm really hoping that this will be the year AI will get it's 6th female winner.

:agree::agree::agree:

 

[mrpiz]

I think they should not allow multiple votes so maybe it would be more fair. It's turned into the cutest guy is the one will win. But I have to admit, I vote for Phillips because I would love to have him inside me on a daily basis!

 

[atlpimpc]

I knew Joshua was going home. Jessica is a carbon copy of Beyonce & Mariah Carey in my opinion. She can sing her face off, but she offers nothing to the record buying community. Joshua and Philip would have been a great final two. However Joshua seemed shy and too reserve at times like he was holding something back/ secrecy (gay)... he didn't engage with the public when the music went off.

Philip is going to win....

 

[yowza]

I have stopped watching the show since that phat ass became a judge. She should leave the show...seriously!!!!

 

[LeoNJ]

There's nothing wrong with white guys with guitars. Scotty McCreery, Dave Cook both deserved to win. I also enjoyed Casey Abrams, and white girl with a guitar Crystal Bowersox. I'm not sure if race has anything to do with it. During season 2 of AI while
I was standing in line at a store, an elderly white woman walked up to me and started
telling me how much she loved Ruben Studdard. I wasn't even watching AI before that.

I was just debating with myself about whether or not I should stop watching American Idol after seeing Joshua get the boot before Phillip. I'll probably keep watching because
if I stop, then I'll miss out on some amazing live performances.

It's not fair if people are voting for Phillip just because of his good looks. Tim Urban was one of the best looking guys ever on that show and he kept getting saved even though he sounded horrible most of the time. Phillip is alright, but not as good as some of
the others who have been voted off.

Phillip Phillips singing Michael Jackson's Thriller in 2010.

I think Phillip may be a big rap fan judging from some of his old vids
on youtube.

A younger David Archuletta singing Vanessa Carlton's A Thousand Miles.

 

[mikey11]

OK. So the trend did continue.

The winner is Phillip Phillips.

I'm sort of glad I've given up on this show some time ago. IMO it's not entertaining anymore.

 

[atlpimpc]

I have to say this year was boring. As I stated in a previous post I knew he would win....
predicable.

 

[redbones111]

Racist, no. Increasingly bland, yes. And like already said up thread, chances are we'll never hear from most of these people in a couple of years.

 

[snake4]

Yeah, I think it has something to do with the demographic too.

 

[sammyyummy]

racist isnt the exact term but, America is not that open for a non-white Idol

 

[js324]

You have to remember that the majority of voters are white females, many of whom are tweens or old ladies, and besides looks they vote on the sappiness of someones story, which is how that goky guy got so far (dead wife) until he butchered "dream on"