Carly Smithson Voted Off, Gets Bad Deal on American Idol

Something is wrong with American Idol, and all of us that watch it know what it is. In a land where 38 million people vote for their favorite idol, but don't think twice about not voting for our next President, something is very, very wrong.

It is easy to say that "Sour grapes" make people complain about who stays and goes. However, this week was silly. I'm sitting here wondering just how long this show has been a popularity contest, and not a singing competition. The show is supposed to be a singing competition, and yet, when one of the contestants literally forgets the lyrics to her song, Brooke White, by the way, that contestant stays. Carly Smithson, who gets one of her first compliments from Simon, for singing great, goes home. How in the world does that happen?

This is not the first time on this show this year that this has happened. David Archuletta, another popular singer, forgot the lyrics to a Beatles song, and he is in the top 5. Nothing against David or Brooke, but on a show where the judges constantly remind the singers that they are on a big stage now, how on earth can you not remember the lyrics to a song? That is similar to a baseball pitcher forgetting how to throw a baseball, or a Quarterback forgetting to call the next play. In both of those scenarios, those players would be benched, not rewarded.

I know these singers are just young kids, and they get nervous in front of millions of viewers, but come on, forgetting the lyrics is inexcusable. Or maybe not, apparently. Carly finally sings well enough to impress Simon, and holds up a "Simon loves me" T-shirt at the end of her performance, and she gets the boot. Brooke forgets lyrics, and gets chastised by Paula, who never says anything bad, and stays. This must have been opposite week.

My favorite, Kristy Lee Cook, went home a few weeks ago, and I can live with that. But, let's face it folks, Brooke hasn't had a lot of strong performances in the past several weeks, and she should have gone way before Carly. Not that I thought Carly would win it all, but fair is fair, and she got ripped off. Simon apologized for giving her a compliment. Maybe the judges have more affect on theses singers than they think. Ryan Seacrest always tells us that we, the viewers, decide who stays and goes. Is that really true?

American Idol is incredibly popular, and will probably be on the air crowning it's 25th winning contestant before we know it, but it needs to tweak it's own process. Perhaps the judges, who ultimately give us the top 20 anyways, can have their vote count for 30 or 40%. That would help prevent what happened this week. They don't have to say publicly who they voted for or against, but at least the popular vote would be somewhat diminished. I know what you are going to say. "Isn't whoever wins supposed to be who America decides is the best, or most popular?" Yes, but look at the viewers track record, and tell me that the best singer, in a singing competition, really wins.

Good luck to the remaining contestants. Don't be so worried about singing the words right, just worry about if you look cute enough to get some votes. That seems to have worked for Brooke.