American Idol: No Longer a Talent Competition?

Like millions of people in this country, I sit down every Tuesday and Wednesday to watch American Idol. Of course it is entertaining, but is that entertainment the music or is it the way people are voting for their "favorites" in 2007. This year could mark the end of American Idol as a talent competition, as it is slowly turning into a joke before our eyes.

Of course, the headliner of all of this controversy for 2007 is Sanjaya Malakar. It is not anything he is doing, if anything it is a lack of what he is doing! I think we can all agree that he is not the greatest singer, and he should not have made it as far as he has. He even said during the April 3 show that "My goal this week, is to show people that I really can sing". He knows he should have been sent home a long time ago! At first I thought maybe people felt sorry for him, but that is not the case.

There is a website, www.votefortheworst.com, that encourages people to vote for the worst contestant, which in this case is Sanjaya. This website was advertised on the Howard Stern Show, and people are flocking to the website. As of the day of this writing, this website has increased traffic 10,334% the past three months! So is the voting being influenced by websites like this, YEAH!

I must say that the 2007 American Idol has been the most entertaining year for me thus far. From the Antonella pictures to Sanjaya's pony hawk, this makes for entertaining television. I don't know how many people agree with me on this, but American Idol remains the highest rated show on television. So, this voting fiasco has not stopped people from watching. Maybe it will increase the number of viewers, we'll just have to wait and see.

It is a little sad to see that American Idol is no longer a talent competition and is becoming just a ratings chaser. American Idol claims that websites like www.votefortheworst.com do not affect the vote each week. This is totally untrue, and they know it. Thousands of votes are swayed each week to try to "rig" the outcome of the voting. I have never voted for any contestants so I guess I'm not a die hard fan. So for me, I will continue to tune in each week to see what's going to happen next. It's all about entertainment for me, and this show produces that.