Is American Idol Fixed?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Last night both John Peter Lewis (the pen salesman) and John Stevens (the redhead) were the final two guys scheduled to be booted off the show.

JPL finally got what he deserved and was sent packing.

Now, while I have been waiting for weeks for this to happen, the timing of it struck me as suspicious.

For weeks this guy sailed right on through the competition. He never even made the bottom three ONCE.

Now, yesterday, after a better performance than he's given in a long time, he was booted.

I am finding it really hard to believe that all his 'fans' - the prepubescent girls who make up American Idol's core audience - suddenly found him intolerable.

I think some FOX bigwigs pulled the plug on JPL because they saw that he was just getting the "he's so cute" vote - while other more talented singers were being discarded week after week.

American Idol doesn't announce the vote totals. They don't say who won by what margin and everything is essentially a big secret (kinda like presidential voting in Florida).

So am I a :tinfoilhat: club member here, or am I on to something?

[tomreedtoon]

1. You need to ask?

From the start, these "reality shows" have been as managed as anything the news media puts out. Does anyone here remember the precursor to these shows, the PBS documenatary "An American Family?" The show that covered facets of the Loud family, that was a perfect example of an observer changing real-world events simply by aiming a camera at it?

These shows are mostly produced directly by their networks, not by independent production companies. (There aren't any such animals, any more, in the media-conglomerate world where we live.) Those networks want ratings. They don't want a popular character to be killed out of a competition. They sure as hell don't want the public's opinion to count - unless it coincides with the judgment of the network heads. If Michael Eisner doesn't approve who wins "The Bachelor," I'd be very surprised.

[maxpower]

2. John Stevens...

His act is getting so tired, he should have never made it to begin with.

[ronnykmarshall]

4. Can you image next week?

Barry Manilow songs???

[MissMillie]

3. I agree w/ you assessment to a certain point

JPL did have a good week this week, and I really didn't think he'd be in the bottom 3 at all.

I'm not sure it's an issue of his "fans" suddently finding him intolerable as it is a process of elimination... there is one less person available to be booted off each week.

And let's face it, Fantasia, LaToya, George and Jennifer all had a great week.

I imagined that Jasmine would be in the bottom 3 instead of JPL, but to be honest, I think they're on equal footing.

I have no idea what John Stevens is still doing in this competition.