I have so many emotions swirling in my head and I'm going to do my best to try to articulate as best I can. I know this will seem like gibberish, so I will apologize in advance.
Although there were many predictions and hopes among some fans that Jennifer would make the final 4, I think that many of us expected her to leave within the next few weeks. I fully expected her to be in the bottom 3 tonight, although I thought Diana would be the one to go.
I realize Jennifer was an acquired taste. Some fans will tell you that she was an arrogant screamer who made scary faces. Others, like me, will say that she was a self-confident, vibrant young woman who made tremendous strides in improving herself and her performances, respecting the judges as best she could in spite of being told that she was out of her depth in the competition. I would also tell you that although her Tuesday performance was far from flawless, she still gave one of the best renditions of the night.
I was sad to see Jennifer go. Yet, I know that she will do well no matter where the road takes her. She is a beautiful, intelligent, bold young woman who has faced challenges far more daunting than a singing competition and emerged stronger than ever. Whether we hear about her for the next 20 years or never see her again after the next 20 weeks, she will have a good life. I felt badly for her but my anger, my outrage, stemmed from far more than just her elimination. It came from the way that her departure, and the bottom 3 altogether, was handled.
Every season (Tamyra in season 1, Ruben almost goes in season 2), Ryan bleats out his latest variation of 'MY GOD AMERICA, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE???' and every season, he seems less and less genuine and more and more like the announcer on the old 'People's Court' episodes (Robert Lleuwyn?). If you ask me, America only did exactly what the show wanted them to do.
While I don't want to believe that a large amount of American Idol fans who vote do so for racial politics, I do think that there are certain double standards for black female finalists. If you show spunk or personality, are not respectable enough with the judges, or do not wear the most suitable clothes, then you wind up in the bottom 3 over and over again (Kim Locke, Jennifer). But if you dress well, carry yourself well, and refuse to quarrel with the judges no matter how harsh their comments may be, you are slammed as remote, an ice queen, and cocky, and repeatedly wind up in the bottom 3 and/or eliminated well before the final rounds (Tamyra, Trenyce, Christina, LaToya). If you set a high bar for yourself and perform near-consistently well, you are slammed as a critics' pet (Tamyra, Fantasia), or people say that you have been given a free ride even if you were actually in the bottom 3 or harshly rated by the judges a number of times (Kim Locke, Jennifer, Trenyce). If you have an off night, instead of being given a second or third chance (Josh, John, Carmen, Jon Peter Lewis, RJ) you are put in the bottom 3 (Kim Locke, Jennifer, LaToya) if not voted out altogether after one bad performance (Tamyra).
Essentially, black women on American Idol are supposed to sing well, but not admit that they can sing well, and are supposed to give a fantastic performance every week, but if they show any pride in their performance they will become known as a cocky, attitude-throwing diva who needs to be taught a lesson. Yet, if they do their best every week and then politely accept the negative or positive commentary from the panel, they are frosty, self-satisfied divas who need to be taught a lesson.
One of the only memorable moments of the 2004 VH1 Divas Live screamfest was when they asked a few celebrities what it means to be a diva. Several of them had no response. That's because the term diva has become so overused and overexposed that only negative connotations spring to mind. Diva means bitch. Or attitude. Or throwing tantrums and being shipped off to rehab.
Few can plant seeds of destruction more masterfully than Simon. When he told Jennifer that she, Fantasia and LaToya were the 3 divas and tried his best to imply they didn't get along, I cringed. When he asked LaToya if he thought she could win, I winced. When Fantasia's mother and daughter received ample airtime and the adorable young Zion was carried in Ryan's arms to see her proud mother, I finally started to drop the melodrama and wonder about the fallout.
These producers aren't stupid. Surely they knew that the higher they heaped the praise on these three ladies, the higher the audience resentment would grow. Meanwhile, they were as harsh as ever to John Stevens, only fueling the anger of the fans who felt like his 'quiet, relaxed' style was more tolerable than 'screamers' or 'church singers' (as some have described L/T/F). Surely they knew that having Jennifer say 'it's Jenny's world' and smile at her progress, or having LaToya say that she thought she could win (unforgiveable in the eyes of many voters) would cost them support. I would be stunned if they didn't realize the exact same fans who raged on various message boards against Fantasia for not being at home with her daughter would rage just as loudly at the 'favoritism' of her daughter being brought onstage for a special visit.
The atmosphere changed from a singing competition where these ladies were giving it their all into an overheated free-for-all, Davids vs. Goliaths. After Jennifer was voted out, I looked around various message boards and the degree of satisfaction at 'showing those mean judges who controls the show' and 'America telling John Stevens how much we love him' was commonplace. Instead of being saddened at the loss of a strong singer, some people acted like they had just slayed a dragon.
I have my doubts as to how genuine the vote totals were (I know how popular John and Jasmine are but for Diana to go from bottom 3 for 2 straight weeks to being safe is very strange), but if they were genuine, and not thrown together as a 'scandal' to bring buzz back to an increasingly lethargic program, the producers deserve a great deal of the blame. I found the constant finger-pointing and hand-wringing from Ryan and the judges to be totally hypocritical. Ryan practically *begged* people to vote for John this week and then he feigns horror when more talented singers aren't safe? Then Paula and Simon basically told the audience not to blame George, Jasmine, or Diana...anyone who isn't named John! I'm not a big fan of John's but he was no worse than Jasmine this week. His being slighted in such a blatant way was another passive-aggressive maneuver to rile fans into voting even more fervently for him next week. Then another strong singer will go and the outrage/scandal/buzz/watercooler talk du jour will commence.
If the producers *were* trying for a racial aspect, they couldn't have found a better outlet for their agenda than poor George. Never mind that George (according to his pastor) was so sick over the past few days that he could barely even sing or speak on Tuesday. He was forced to do what no other contestant has ever faced, to somehow use psychic powers to determine the top 3 for the week. When he joined Fantasia, LaToya and Jennifer, only to find out that he was totally wrong, he was devastated. The implication was that George had sided with the other black performers and ha ha ha, America showed him, what an idiot. For no good reason, he was singled out for a cheap 'gotcha'. He was barely able to fight back the tears at the loss of his friend and at being a pawn in such a malicious game of divide and conquer.
I've heard all sorts of remarks that this bottom 3 happened because the ladies were not 'humble' enough, did not cater to the judges enough, had too much belief in their talent. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think you can be classy without pretending you are a simpering child or looking like a deer in the headlights every time a judge opens his mouth. Unless someone is sticking their tongue out at the audience or arguing with a judge if he gives a single critical remark (like Ryan Starr and her infamous 'you're a popper not a rocker' whine to Simon a few years ago), then you aren't doing anything to deserve humbling. Yes, Fantasia talked back to Simon a few times, but it was all in fun and she stopped that several weeks ago. Jennifer talked back sometimes but she and LaToya usually accepted both criticism and acclaim with grace and dignity. The whole idea that these ladies needed to be 'put in their place', as some have said, as was whooped around some boards after last night's show, is a very depressing thought. Do these performers really have to behave like trained seals in order to not be punished by voters? Nobody demanded that the sweet, kind Diana be put in her place for dancing back to the couches every time she made it out of the bottom 3. Or that the sweet, kind John be put in his place because last week he said he thought he was going to give a great performance.
This has never been simply a talent show. Popularity plays a factor and it's far more about who has the loyalest fan base than about strength of voice. But there is a difference between popularity contest and cruelty. The iron fist slamming down on three of the best singers in the competition all in one night was undeserved and degrading beyond words. The show could have gone about it's business and just called them to the bottom 3 one by one. To see them grouped together, with George wandering in their direction, then being told that they were now lesser than several performers that they have almost always been equal or superior to was something I hope I can forget as soon as possible. Most disgusting of all was the faux-sorrow of the host and judges who helped create the very situation they were suddenly so mournful of.
After seeing these 3 ladies 'learn their place', I kept waiting for this huge fit that LaToya or Jennifer or Fantasia were supposed to throw. They're supposed to claw each other's eyes out, right? Or scream at the audience? Nope. None of that from the 'divas'. Instead, 'cocky' Fantasia hugged Jennifer so tight that they almost became one. She choked back her tears and told the whole audience that no matter what, Jennifer was THE American Idol. So much for attitude I guess.
As the camera panned all those stunned faces (except for smirking Jasmine) and the producers smirked behind the scenes at the latest frenzy they had whipped up, the only 'attitude' I sensed was my own. My anger at what should have been an emotional farewell cut short for lots of blathering from Ryan. My anger at seeing Jennifer denied the chance to finish her last song. My irritation at once again seeing these archaic double standards exhumed in a season that had up until now done a remarkable job of separating the talented from the talentless. And my deep sense of betrayal. I knew that the show could be hateful to their singers, but I had no idea that they could treat their talent like such easily discarded paper dolls.
This was about as desperate and demoralizing as this show can get. I never remember Tamyra or Kim Locke or anyone else being treated as disposably on their final night as Jennifer was. For the sake of some phony controversy, one vibrant performer is gone, two others now wonder if they need to giggle and coo and put up a fake front in order to get support, and one other was completely humiliated on national television in an unnecessary fashion.
After one of the most entertaining and likeable performers in the competition, Amy Adams, left due to lack of votes, the show lost between 2-3 million viewers the next week. Now Jennifer is gone, with nothing but a mixed bag of finalists, several of whom got through based on seemingly everything but singing talent, ahead of us. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Will they lose another million viewers by next week?
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