Howard Stern Won’t Derail American Idol, And Here’s Why…
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Former radio DJ turned satellite star, Howard Stern, proclaimed on his Sirius show that he wants to take down Fox’s hit show American Idol. On his show on Thursday, Stern said this about his efforts to subvert the voting process on the show.
“We’re corrupting the entire thing. All of us are routing ‘American Idol.’ It’s so great. The No. 1 show in television and it’s getting ruined.â€
For those not following the controversy or the show, now in its sixth season, the website VoteForTheWorst.com has picked contestant Sanjaya Malakar, a 17-year-old from Washington State, as their object lesson for derailing the show. The site was started by supposed AI fan Dave Della Terza, and began their campaign of voter “fraud” during season three, with Jennifer Hudson as their first candidate for her ‘over-the-top’ singing and ‘crazy outfits.’ And we all know what became of her. The New York Times has a nice article about the controversy.
During season four, Scott Savol was effectively stinking up the show, and it’s most likely that he hung in as long as he did because of VFTW influence and backing him as their choice to torture American Idol fans. That was really annoying, as was Savol.
Della Terza, a community college teacher from the Chicago area, says he doesn’t want to destroy the show - he’s a big fan, really.
“We’re not out to take the show down. We like the show. We want to keep around the guy we think is funny and corny. Everyone tries to say we’re crushing dreams with what we’re doing, but we’re trying to help Sanjaya’s dreams. He wants to be the American Idol too.â€
Yes, and so do I, but that doesn’t mean I deserve to be on the show. The big push this season came when Mr. Della Terza appeared on Howard Stern’s show. VoteForTheWorst.com states that they receive about “1 million visitors” during each show, but that number jumped to about “3 million after his first appearance on the Stern show. Obviously, Howard Sterns audience holds some voting power. Sirius doesn’t quote how many viewers each show gets, it does however state there are six million subscribers to the satellite service.
In previous years, VFTW has backed names that have gone on to have huge careers, like we mentioned, Jennifer Hudson. And last year it was Taylor Hicks, who went on to win the show’s fifth season. And as Mr. Della Terza says:
“If we had not recommended him, maybe he wouldn’t have won.”
All of this is pretty amusing in the early weeks of the show, unless of course you have staked out a real favorite and they get voted off because of the antics of a site like VFTW backing a kid whose singing talents are seriously out of whack compared to his fellow contestants. America’s tweens may dig Sanjaya, but the judges don’t:
Simon Cowell on the possibility of Sanjaya winning this year’s competition: “I won’t be back if he does.â€Â
Randy Jackson Malakar’s on a recent performance: “That song was almost unlistenable for me, man.â€
And lastly, my statement on Sanjaya’s overall lameness: “Look man, if I wanted to see some fruity, doofus with dumb hair caterwauling and ruining perfectly good songs I’d have bought Clay Aiken’s crap. But I didn’t, so I don’t and so you need to just quit it. Seriously, stop now. That’s enough. Do you want me to spank you? On second thought, I don’t really like any of the contestants. Go ahead, fruity it up!”
But here’s the why none of this VFTW crap won’t really work and Sanjaya will eventually meet his AI demise. The show has two kinds of watchers: those who vote, and those who let those who don’t. And when those who vote keep f-ing it up, the smart people eventually get off their butts and correct the situation. That’s it, that’s the answer in a nutshell. When it gets close enough, the loser get voted off. Even goofy Paula has that one in the bag, as told to Ok!:
“It’s so ridiculous I remember (VFTW) was targeting Scott Savol in season four because they deemed him bad. I know they’re now doing the same thing with Sanjaya…In the end, I believe people will appreciate that this is a serious competition and vote accordingly. The real votes will count.”
One last note. What does this say about our tweens that a kid with as much raw appeal as a soggy bologne sandwich is their pin-up? Between Sanjaya Malakar and Paris Hilton, the youth of today are doomed to an existence of becoming a grotesque amalgamation of pimply, gender-confused, STD-riddled empty-headed ding dongs.Â
And people thought I was doofus for worshipping Michael Stipe and Morrissey. Ha, I am the COOLEST!
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Scott Savol stayed on American Idol because his fans voted for him. VFTW had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Scott has a beautiful voice and is a wonderful person.
Comment by Lynn — April 2, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
you know what I love about Idol? No matter who the contestant, no matter how good/bad he/she is… there’s always somebody who loves them.
thats about the only thing that amazes me about this show. oh and when simon called that guy a bush baby. I didnt think even simon would go there but what do i know…
Comment by Amrita — April 2, 2007 @ 1:56 pm
Lynn, I bet Scott would appreciate having a fan. Good for you.
I still think he was horrifying. But, hey that’s just me!
Comment by Dawn — April 2, 2007 @ 3:05 pm
Do people even still listen to Howard Stern? Last time I heard, he was complaining that a lot of his “loyal listeners” were cheap bastards for not subscribing to Sirius and following him there.
As for VFTW, as J mentioned, they like to take credit for what they don’t deserve. During season 4 they claimed that Carrie Underwood won because of them. The dumbasses conveniently forgot to mention that she was always the chosen one to win.
Comment by Kaonashi — April 2, 2007 @ 7:23 pm
Kaonashi- Clearly you are a moron! Howard Stern is one of the highest paid and most powerful people in the entertainment industry. After 20 years of dominating terrestrial radio he is now leading the way for a whole new industry in satellite radio that is rapidly growing. His interviews and comments from his show are constantly in the news. And he didn’t call his listeners cheap. That was a misquote from an interview that was clearly explained on his show. Get your facts straight.
I think it’s hilarious that he’s goofing on Idol because it exposes a huge flaw in the Idol voting process. Viiewers should be voting for who they want to eliminate, not who they want to keep. That way America’s voice would truly be heard. Instead most people vote only for their favorite and thus have no control over the bottom three and who will be eliminated. It’s a stupid system and now Idol is paying the price integrity wise but probably getting higher ratings because of Stern and Sanjaya!
Idol is only interested in making money. The performers are forbidden to play instruments or do original material and the age limit is stupid. If they truly wanted to find the most talented people then none of those restrictions would be in place.
Comment by photomaniac — April 3, 2007 @ 8:42 am
I don’t watch AI, but I agree with J: Howard Stern is a master of being in the center of controversies. He’s great at it, and has built his career on it.
Man, I wish I had Sirius. I miss listening to Stern in the morning.
Comment by Eric Berlin — April 3, 2007 @ 2:39 pm
Wow, you are such a tlented journalist, name-calling Clay “fruity with dumb hair”. Not! Let’s see what you look like and compare you to the gorgeous fabulous talented Clay Aiken! Are you thinking Clay hasn’t changed or still looks like he did years ago. The man is smokin’ hot AND that voice just gets better and better — if that’s possible. He did Xmas concerts with symphonies and blew away the musicians. David Foster thinks he’s great. A lot of singers admire Clay. Guess you know better, though, right? How UNCOOL you are bashing Clay. BORING!
Comment by carol — April 3, 2007 @ 7:37 pm
Carol, please tell me you were being sarcastic? When you say smokin’ do you mean he’s on fire and needs a fire extinguisher? Because you can’t mean like sexy-hot, as that would be silly.
He sings fine, if you like that style, but he’s still a bit fruity. And well, let’s face it, you know it too. Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.
Comment by Dawn — April 3, 2007 @ 8:37 pm
BLOGBLIGHT ALERT!
This blog is infested with blogblight: n. Malicious lies, half-truths, distortions and insinuations perpetuated mindlessly by bloggers publishing misinformation, photos or video from each others blogs, or the tabloids, with no thought to the veracity, authenticity or libelous nature of the content.
The blight bloggers range from professional journalists (who should know better) down to the celebrity gossip hacks. Similar blight occurs in the other news media (tabloids) as well, but is more pervasive on the internet because of the anonymity accorded many of those who perpetuate it.
Blogblight undermines one of the basic values of the internet, information sharing. Rather than seeing legitimate and accurate information, internet users see blogblight instead.
This blog also has a bad case of DumBlight.
Comment by BlogBlightBuster — April 3, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
Yep, Carol said it right. Clay is smokin’ hot and getting better and better at being the tease! Being the ultimate southern gentleman that he is, Clay, till now, has held back all those inhibitions that we all knew were buried deep inside. At his current Raleigh gala, Clay firted and teased and drove everyone beserk with love and adoration and lots of titilation and good humour.
I’m sure glad so many people don’t see Clay as the sexy person he is..we don’t need hundreds more people standing in front of us at concerts preventing us from ogling his posterior.
As for VFTW, your dastardly deeds put you on the same level as scam artists fleecing old ladies and identity thieves posing as real people…what goes around comes around….the clock is ticking…
Comment by N'est-ce pas, eh?-Canada — April 4, 2007 @ 12:20 am
Wow…..Denial is a very funny thing….isnt it all? lol
Comment by Bill from Maine — April 4, 2007 @ 3:49 pm