Could Tim Urban Win American Idol?
Idolgeddon or the Idolcopolypse?
Is it so inconceivable that Tim Urban could be the next American Idol?
Major media bloggers have criticized this season's field of contestants repeatedly. MSNBC.com blatantly screams "Talent? What Talent? Idol is lousy this Season!" CNN.com asks "Has American Idol Jumped the Shark?" USAToday.com predicts "The doomsday scenario: How Tim Urban Wins American Idol". More specifically, Tim garners scathing reviews from Entertainment Weekly.com and other bloggers.
In past seasons, there were generally a handful of competitors each truly worthy of being crowned the next American Idol rounded out with a field of decent-sounding cannon fodder. In the 2010 edition, Crystal Bowersox stands out as the lone true talent. However, "Mamasox" has no appeal to the texting tweens who seem to make up the majority of American Idol voters. The exposure AI has given Bowersox will do great things for her career - IF she doesn't win and get sucked into the pop-autotuner machine that produces such "talent" as guests Ke$ha, Orianthe and that Jonas brother who can't sing. Siobhan Magnus initially appeared to be the closest competition to Bowersox in the season Simon Cowell declared to be the "girls' year." However, after nailing the Aretha-esque scream at the end of "Think," Magnus has turned to over-using a screech best saved for special occasions.
Conversations with friends and co-workers follow a similar path. Do the American Idol producers truly believe these were the best 24 singers in the country out of thousands of hopefuls? I have a friend who traveled to Denver with her daughter to audition. This girl has an amazing, powerful voice, and I was shocked that she didn't even get the first opportunity to sing. Of course, if AI were really a singing competition, the answer would obviously be "no."
What does Tim Urban have going for him? Could he possibly win American Idol and give the producers migraines of apocalyptic proportions? Tim Urban is having fun. He knows he's the underdog and is making the most of every chance he gets to step onto that stage. He also has two other secret weapons.
The tweens love him! He's just so darn cute with his deer-in-the-headlights look and that brilliantly white smile. Oh yeah, how about those abs?
Much more effective than the tweens is AI's worst nightmare - VotefortheWorst.com. Contrary to some opinions, VFTW doesn't actually believe that Urban is the worst singer - and he's not. Tim is highly entertaining because he's not polished, he's not a robot and honestly, even though not up to Normund Gentle standards, his stage presence is more than just a little goofy.
VotefortheWorst actually figured out a long time ago something the rest of the world is just realizing. American Idol is not about finding the best singer. It is about finding an artist they can manipulate into appealing to the Top 40 record-buying public and making lots of money.
A little time spent reading through the VFTW comments is showing a lot of long-time AI fans jumping ship. Comments such as "I used to love American Idol" are common. Readers outside the United States are begging to find a way to vote for Tim Urban.
Paula Abdul is gone. Simon Cowell is on his way out. Kara DioGuardi - her advice has about the same effect that "No Boundaries" had on the Billboard Charts. Ellen DeGeneres has resorted to jokes not worthy of her stand-up days and Randy Jackson - dawg, seriously?
As the American Idol field narrows, fans of voted-off contestants will need an outlet for their votes. So your favorite didn't win? Make the powers that be pay the price by voting for Tim Urban and making him the next American Idol!
Sources: VotefortheWorst.com ; CNN.com ; MSNBC.com; Billboard.com ;
EntertainmentWeekly.com ; USAToday.com
Published by Debbie Henthorn - Featured Contributor in Business & Finance and Lifestyle
Debbie has been blessed with an incurable wanderlust. Former jobs included extensive travel throughout the United States, making it possible for this self-proclaimed "food/beer/wine geek" to taste the countr... View profile
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11 Comments
Post a CommentI know a lot of people who like Tim, and they are not teenage girls. They are rooting for him because he is the underdog. The judges unfairly made him the scapegoat because of all the complaints that the show has gone downhill. Tim is not the worst singer left in the competition. Plus, he actually has charm and charisma, which is more than I can say for most of the others. This year NO ONE has the talent or personality like popular contestants from the past, like Adam Lambert, Chris Daughtry, Bo Bice, etc. There's no need to put ALL of the blame on Tim. The judges picked a lackluster group of contestants, hoping that they could manipulate the results. The producers wanted this to be a girl's year to win, so they picked weak male competitors. Face it, Lee, Casey, Mike, Aaron and Andrew aren't that great in comparison to past contestants.
Daughtry > Lee
Bo Bice > Casey
Ruben > Mike
Archuleta > Aaron
Kris Allen > Andrew
Of course I wonder if Tim really was going to win and was in the finale 2, if the producers of the show would lie about the votes he got..
Oh, and I almost forgot. Tim COULD beat almost anyone Crystal or Siobhan included. I say that because every year the young tween girls voting has been going up. It started around 4 seasons ago when cell phone prices started plummeting along with the price of texting. I knew the show was doomed at that point. That is in part why Tim is staying. V4TW is just there to help exaggerate that effect. We have 6 guys
and only 3 girls now. YES, Siobhan, Crystal or Katie could be next with Tim smiling as he's told he's safe. And I agree that the show is more about manipulating the contestants AND the public into getting some top 40 sales. This could also explain why they pretend some of the good talent
on the show isn't that great at times.
cont' she's done really great. He's basically trying to take her strengths and make them seem like weaknesses week after week. Proof is on the 1st few shows he couldn't think of anything better to cut her down so he kept repeating she was a "weird little girl". We could argue forever, but anyone who's seen all 9 seasons knows when Simon is steering people away from a particular contestant. (and all the crystal fans will deny this is even possible of course)
But it's just like a dessert served at a party and someone says, "Ewww, what kind of yucky chocolate is that? And that topping with the strawberries is yuck!". Pretty soon everyone sees it only as being "just ok" instead of good. People have second thoughts. And that's what is happening to Siobhan. But I suppose Simon feels that Crystal can't win unless he somehow slows Siobhan down a bit.
cont' either of Crystal or Siobhan's bad nights because they aren't good examples of what they are capable of.
But going further, as much as Big Mike annoys me with his arrogance, I have to say the guy has been pretty consistent. And so has Aaron, and Lee. Even Katie isn't 1/2 bad. So saying Crystal is the "lone" true talent makes you seem to be just a media follower that hangs on Simon's every last words. I did notice you hinted Siobhan was good, but you are too quick to throw her out the window over the fact that she can belt out a song.
Also whether or not she "over uses" her belting doesn't mean she is any less talented as it's a matter of personal taste. Once you realize that Simon is pushing Crystal and Siobhan is one the the biggest threats to his favorite, it becomes all to noticeable that Simon's going out of his way to make Siobhan's performances seem more negative than they really are. And he's also going out of his way to seemingly not notice when she's do
"Crystal Bowersox stands out as the lone true talent."
When I hear lines like this, it instantly makes me think of tone deaf sheep. And I could be wrong about your article, but that's the impression it forms. Why? Crystal is one of the best on the show, but the difference between sheep and those with true listening abilities is this. A sheep follows the media, the hype, the water cooler conversations and decides that Crystal is good not because they have great listening skills but because they've been told she can sing good. Sort of like phony brand loyalty. So they go with the safe bet which is Crystal.
However someone with good listening skills would have also recognized that Siobhan has been fantastic and the added belting doesn't change that fact. Aretha Franklin, Kelly Clarkson and a thousand others sing in that style. Even though Kelly is very respected today, she hailed a "screecher/screamer" on season 1 by her detractors. Now I don't count either of Crystal o
I don't think he'll win...but I loved this article. I'm definitely NOT enjoying this year's "Idol" nearly as much as past seasons.
This is awesome. Don't care too much for Idol, though.
I love this guy! Even the other (entitled?) contestants seem to resent him in exit interviews and still he smiles on. Like they deserve to be there and he doesn't??? Right... They just got the lucky lotto ticket to be on the show because there are thousands more that have auditioned that sound better... They just didn't have the back story or drama to go with the vocals. Idol brought Tim back so they need to stop kicking the puppy. It's contradictory... They knew what he sounded like before they put him on that stage only to verbally abuse him every week!
Ha-Ha! I'm loving this! All the Idol "purists" are losing their minds, contemplating what will happen if Teflon Tim actually wins. I'm actually happy for Tim. If he can keep smiling no matter how many insults the judges hurl at him, then he is a much better person than most of us. I would rather have Tim and his smile than Didi and her tears. TEAM TIMMY all the way! :)