Rantings of a Black Polemicist

Jennifer Hudson gets the boot.

Saturday, April 24th, 2004 | Trivialities

I watched on as vocal powerhouse, Jennifer Hudson got the boot from American Idol Wednesday. Unbelievable. In fact, the contestants in the bottom 3 were the strongest performers even by the judges? standards. They also happened to be the only 3 black girls in the competition.

Many have their theories about why John Stevens, who is clearly out of his league, remains in the competition while Amy Adams and now Hudson are out. I don’t think racism is a valid theory. Here’s my take on things:

• The audience is voting for the underdogs. Simon has said that the three “divas” are the best in the competition, while being especially brutal towards Stevens. Maybe people are assuming that the public will already vote for the talent and try to compensate by voting for Stevens because they like his personality. More compensatory votes were cast than those based on merit, leaving the talent in the cold, and in Hudson’s case - off the show.
• People with enough sense to recognize talent also have lives. With other things to do than sit by their phone casting 100 or 200 votes for their favorite performer, they watch the show and move on with their life. The teeny-boppers with virtually unlimited text-messaging cellphone plans do nothing but cast votes until their little fingers are numb.
• Maybe people just don’t care about talent as much as they want to see someone in a particular demographic win. Teenage white girls think John is cute and vote away. All of Hawaii votes for Jasmine. Other suburban homes are in love with Diana. Black folks want to see another black idol, but end up splitting their votes among the three “divas”, hurting their chances for success.

Whatever the reasons, I’m pissed. The competition is quickly becoming a joke, and America is to blame. The biggest flaw in the voting system is that one person can cast as many votes as they want. I’ve voted from my AT&T wireless phone, and you don’t have to wait for an open line to make your vote count. Just text-message away, and your votes rack up quickly. Land line voters are at a distinct disadvantage to wireless voters.

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