Associated Content Vs. American Idol : the Real World Vs. Willy Wonka

To all American Idol fans: this is not, I repeat, not, a review of your favorite show. So if you want to know what's happening to David or Kelly, better stop reading now. You probably won't find this interesting at all. To everybody else: please, please keep reading. I did my best to publish something that would please to all of you, without exception, so the least you can do to repay me is read this. For which I already thank you in advance....

So here's the deal. For a few months now, I've been publishing articles on AC. Most of them have a sarcastic undertone or are meant to be funny (if they're not, well, I'm probably just misunderstood) and there's an average of 65 views per article. Nothing special, but enough. I still find it strange that people who have never heard of me are interested in anything I've got to say, and I appreciate all comments. And then, I discovered 'Calls for Content'. As you all know, these are subjects AC wants people to write about so rather than making something up, they're sort of homework. At one point I started writing comments about performers on American Idol, and then things went incredibly weird....

For starters, I'm from Belgium. Which means that I don't get to see American Idol on television. Week after week, I check the web for the clips of that week's performances and then write my articles based on those clips. Once I started publishing these articles, views went up from 65 to 1500 per article, with peaks of over 3000!! So here's my personal conflict: do I write about my frustrations for a small audience or do I sell my soul and make a little bit of money? Obviously it's pretty easy to combine both.

To be honest, I like writing about American Idol. It shows a side of America that a foreigner cannot possibly understand. Just look at some of the comments people left to see how fanatic people can get about something as silly as a game show. Just for fun, I'll include some of the comments that people left for you to enjoy.....

I hate someone like you who can't appreciate pure voice and wonderful personality like David Archuleta has. You have no right to put David Archuleta down. Next time you write about David Archuleta, you must be careful... Majority of American populations love David Archuleta!!!

This post was left by DavidArchuleta#1, obviously not this person's real name, who seems to hate me for writing about his (more likely her, or so I hope) number 1 contestant. Should anybody still have doubts, apparently 'Majority of American populations love DA'. Wow, I stand corrected. Here I was under the impression I was supposed to publish my opinion, and before I know it, I've got a whole nation wanting me dead. I better must be careful if I want to write about him again, I guess...

5 words: "You speak only for yourself."

Well d'uuh. Again, writing one's opinion most of the time means being subjective. My thoughts by no means represent anybody else's opinion. If people fail to realize that, maybe the problem lies with them. Just one more Archuleta reaction, as they even got better:

...who r u anyway..a worthless writer !!!! freak!

I think it's pretty safe to say this particular person who goes by the name of 'Tommy' does not really agree with me.

So should I be threatened? Stop writing maybe? I don't think so. It does prove whoever how far some people apparently go to defend their favorite. I can live with being a worthless writer (I'm not even a writer) and I've been called worse things than a freak. It does surprise me whoever how anybody can make that judgment based on an article, without knowing anything about me.

What really annoyed me is that as long as I write positive things about the contestants, I only get positive comments as well. But once you say something that people disagree with, hell breaks loose. Now I know how Salman Rushdie felt..... (exaggeration has never bothered me before). I'm lucky enough to live a few thousand miles away from the madness that is AI, but if you feel like writing something about one of the remaining contestants, better think twice. Someone might be on your doorstep before you know it.

Oh, for the AI fans that for some reason are still reading: I hope Jason Castro wins!