Stern and Malakar deserve each other

Ok, back to Sanjaya, one last time. I am loathe to revisit this
pseudo-saga because I don't much like this kid and would prefer to just
ignore him. I consider myself generally a pretty tolerant person. And
I'm particularly tolerant of guys who can sing. But I don't like his
voice, I don't like his look, I don't like his performance style, in
fact, he's kind of like a tick - I just don't want to deal, you know?
It's BORING and annoying and weird. And I really don't like all this
gimmicky cheap-fame VFTW fuss.

So why do I join the fray? To take Howard Stern to task. IMHO, he has just totally annihilated any credibility he had left by assuming he is influential enough and smart enough to "corrupt 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.”

By promoting Mr. Malakar, Mr. Stern says, he hopes to turn the talent competition into a farce and destroy its popularity.

I have at least two problems with this. The first is that he treats the whole concept as if it's his brand
new brain-child and perhaps the most brilliant thing that has ever been
thought, ever. Second problem is that VFTW doesn't work. Neither the
group, nor Stern, came up with this idea yesterday. It started three
seasons ago and ultimately the most genuinely popular contestant still
wins. Not necessarily the best (see the Ruben and Taylor years), but
the one who wins our hearts. If Sanjaya wins, it won't be because some
obnoxious attention-and-maturity-starved group of kids that have too
much spite and too much time on their hands conspire to collectively dial
in every week. Aside: I often wonder just how big the contingency is
and whether it holds a candle to home-town contingencies, vote for the
cutest guy or girl contingencies, and other fanatic groups that don't
get as much press but that probably have similar success... Back to the point: If he wins it will be because
enough people (you know who you are....Althouse, L, and the crying girl) genuinely adore him. God help them.

These are not empty threats Mr. Stern. There is a mathematical proof that explains why the VFTW
candidate can't prevail and it goes like this. When voters have a dozen
people to choose from, it's easier for any organized group to amass a
simple majority. But as the field narrows and fans of good performers
have to choose one out of two or three, they concentrate in larger
numbers on the better contestants. Also, people start
to care more towards the end of the show because the stakes seem higher
and more tangible. And they start voting. So if it comes down to Sanjaya and Blake, VFTW is going to have to outnumber those against VFTW + those for Blake.*

*I imagine (and hope) it's possible for this whole Stern thing to have a "Newsom effect" whereby people opposed to VFTW
suddenly take notice that they better start proactively guarding their
values by passing constitutional amendments against the heathens. For
example, I'm definitely planning to start voting to combat this radical
and unhealthy movement. Maybe.

Has Mr. Stern's endorsement made a difference? The founder of VFTW claims yes, unsurprisingly.

According to Mr. Della Terza, votefortheworst.com
had been receiving a million or so hits per “Idol” show this season;
that number jumped to more than three million after his first
appearance on Mr. Stern’s show.

But he forgets to mention that if you visit the mail bag full of comments on votefortheworst.com,
messages left by these 2 million more people reveal a virulent hatred
toward the group and what it's doing. The 'comments' are comprised
almost entirely of misspelled and grammarless complaints and lawsuit threats as infantile and misguided as the group itself.

Ok,
that's my rant, I'm really going to try to stay away from this whole
mess now. It makes me irritable. My pics for the top three: Blake,
Melinda,Jordin. In that order.

American Idol meets The Story of Orange

Does anyone else think Sanjaya looked like the Sunbow fairy tonight?

What is VFTW to do?

If you're a proponent of the "Vote for the worst" conspiracy, you may have found yourself in quite the pickle last night. Sanjaya, this season's indisputable VFTW frontrunner simply dominated. So one can't help but wonder...will they pick a new 'worst' to vote for given the glut of votes sanjaya is likely to pull in after his uncharacteristically out of control and out-of-tune rendition of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me."

No, he's still their man.


And here's what they had to say about last night's performance:

Sanjaya's number tonight is 1-866-IDOLS-08 (1-866-436-5708). Dial it as much as you can between 10 PM and midnight (9 PM and 11 PM central), or if you have Cingular Wireless, you can also text the word "VOTE" to 5708. If you get busy signals, keep dialing. Vote for the full 2 hours for the highest impact. Sanjaya NEEDS our help and this is the big week so vote as much as you can. THAT WAS THE BEST DAMN VFTW PERFORMANCE IN THE HISTORY OF THE SHOW. We can't stop laughing.

Weird that they don't recognize that their meticulously-crafted surreptitious plans are crumbling around them. To be fair though, I still don't think sanjaya has a chance. Notwithstanding the conspicuous appearances of his super-hot sister in the audience with her super low-cut, super clingy tops. We get that he needs all the help he can get, but he's running out of cards and obviously quite desperate. On the other hand, this is the country that elected Taylor Hicks. And Bush.

But he's also caputred the hearts of pre-teen girls, which I can't understand. Perhaps it's because he sort of resembles a pre-teen girl.

Ashley Ferl, 13 from riverside, sobbed uncontrolably through Sanjina's performance last night, it was a little scary - watching it last night, I wondered for a while whether the cameras had mistaken claustrophobia or panicked fear or the news that her cat just died, for adoration. But apparently she really is that star struck.

The family obtained tickets on a website to attend a taping of “Smarter Than a 5th Grader” a day passage that included not just the taping of the show itself, but also the dress rehearsal of either “Grader” or “Idol.” The fates were kind, and the mother and daughter found their way to the “Idol” rehearsal, where Ashley’s waterworks began. Her prowess was quickly brought to the attention of “Idol” producers who summoned the clan to a ringside seat of honor at the final taping.

Sure, it's cute now, but wait 'til she's 25, in therapy 3 times a week, and taking 6 kinds of meds for being uncommonly emotionally disordered.