Posted on 05/14/2004 8:51:58 AM PDT by sathers
Hawaii's 1.25 million population completed a total of 1.23 million calls in their two hour voting period (6 hours behind East Coast Time) a large portion which were for Jasmine Trias says Kevin Laverty of Verizon Wireless.
That's 24,000 more than New Jersey which has seven times the population. Overall, Hawaii logged more calls than all of Verizon's 29 coverage states except New York and California in the post-Idol hours.
Though the island votes helped Jasmine Trias, they make up a portion of a national total that may top 25 million. Other theories abound about how the vote veered so wildly from the consensus of judges and qualified observers.
Many AI Folowers believe children and teens, who are more likely to be passionate and prolific voters, lean towards their own age group, which includes Diana DeGarmo and Trias.
Some fans appearing to be casting votes against caustic judge Simon Cowell. When Cowell ripped John Stevens, voters kept him. On Tuesday, Cowell told Trias everyone in Hawaii would need five phones to save her.
The question of racism: Much the same as when black women Fantasia Barrino, LaToya London, and Jennifer Hudson were in the bottom three, some fans wonder whether color is affecting votes.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.com ...
There may be a little bit of that, but perhaps the two black girls' singing styles are too similar.
I agree
2. In addition, there was a black CEO of a major record company (unfortunately can't rememeber his name) who was on CNN a few days after Jennifer, Fantasia and La Toya were all in the bottom three one week. (CNN was trying to explore the racism angle.) That black record company exec said, in his opinion, none of the contestants this year have all of the qualities necessary to be a star, but that in his opinion Diana DiGarmo has the best voice. I don't know if Diana saw or heard about that exec's opinion, but it does seem to me her confidence level has just soared since then.
3. Your links do not go to the source of the story you posted, but to an ad. Can this be corrected?
4. BTW, I think DiGarmo is an Italian name. My favorites since the round of 32 have been Fantasia and Diana. Fantasia for her originality and genuine talent, and Diana for her superior voice. I would be happy if either of them won. I would not be happy if Jasmine won, because she is a cut below not only Fantasia and Diana, but La Toya also.
I was just about to ask you if Wally World was for real! LOL
I believe DiGarmo is an Italian name — certainly sounds like Italian and is spelled in the Italian manner. Unless I am much mistaken, Diana is fully Caucasian.
No, it isn't just you. I also mentioned it in a prior response.
La Toya already got exactly what se needed out of this -- exposure. She'll probably have an abulm out before anyone else, and my guess is that it will do well on the adult contemporary charts.
Diana will get a contract, and probably do well on the pop charts.
Fantasia will probably get a contract, but I don't expect a great career out of her. She's an attitude problem just waiting to turn into a disaster in my opinion.
Jasmine will probably not get a deal right away. She needs serious work, and will probably be ready for the studio long before she'll be ready for liver performances.
Of the others, I actually see the best long-term potential for John Stevens, but he needs a lot of development work first.
When better than 1 in 25 votes comes from Hawaii, I'd say that's a sign that the system is flawed.
I think they need a one vote per phone limit to try to control some of this stuff.
I also think that kind of limit would prevent a mess like Clay vs. Reuben where the call volume overwhelmed the system so, essentially, it was a tie, with Reuben winning basically on a fluke.
The system isn't broken because the producers of AI WANT it to be this way. It's a popularity and LOYALTY contest as much as a talent search. The performers who can motivate viewers to dial like a maniac for a full two hours are the ones the producers want to win, because it produces viewer loyalty and top ratings which transfer into big profitability. The finals this year will probably draw 40 million viewers, and it's 30 mil each week right now. Interest in the show is so high that Fox and the producers can play all kinds of tricks to increase ratings and advertiser rates.
For instance, why would the show begin at 7:54 instead of 8:00? To take advantage of a quirk in the Arbitron and Nielsen ratings systems. A program is awarded credit for a full quarter-hour if a viewer watches it for at least FIVE MINUTES. Hence the Average Quarter Hour numbers. NBC has also been taking advantage of this quirk during Sweeps Month, but to a lesser degree. For instance, last night's final Frasier ep started at 7:54 as well - to get a higher AQH Rating. Tonight's repeat will start at 7 CDT and run to 8:06, spreading an hour show over five quarter-hours.
Fox is now able to run just about any Idol-related shows they wish to produce, and the viewers will watch them.
Michael
I think he has a larger potential audience than the others, too.
Im still mad at the first season. Tamyra Gray was the hottest looking and best singer on the show and she got voted out, of course they didnt cry racism then if I remember right.
Apologies to all for the unintenionally funny typos... this keyboard sticks a little bit, and I think much faster than I type.
Ghey-ist show evar!
Following the final Idol ep this season, as in all seasons past, all 12 Finalists will embark upon a tightly-controlled 52-stop tour of the country, and any studio time any performer has can and will be within the scope of the performer's contract with the show. While Spike Seacrest says that the person voted out "goes home," that's not really what happens. They might go home for a visit, but they are still under contract. They'll do the tour, and then - THEN - they are free to pursue contracts and record deals if they haven't already gotten them from the show itself.
Michael
They really stuff as many commercials as they can into the program, don't they. I wouldn't watch it - especially the results show - without TiVo.
Interesting.
I think I know what you mean about Jasmine's voice being "different", but I think she's the weakest of the remaining singers. She seems to be consistently off-pitch--nerves, perhaps?
She is cute, tho'. With a lot more training she'd do really well.
Yep, they did.
And Clay versus Ruben contest too.
The racism card has always been played by the fans...not by Elton John though.
See my post above about performers unfamiliar with how they sound standing on a stage with a loud house mix and trying to hear yourself on the stage foldback monitors (those upward-facing speakers on the floor of the stage). People who have experience with this know how to compensate for the situation - and those who haven't done much of this can easily be tricked by the physics of sound into over-compensating and, thus, be out of tune.
Michael
I remember that LaToya was in a band. The night she sang with the Miami Sound Machine she really worked the room. And Fantasia has had several great stage performances.
My money and tatses were on LaToya. If Jasmine wins I think it's a let down because the level of quality will have slipped significantly. IMO.
I also think she has excellent tone and remarkable control as do many gospel singers in black churches. It wasn't a derogatory remark. My point was that she sounds like thousands of other singers...nothing to set her apart.
I actually think any of the four would be acceptable as the winner.
Last season, four got record contracts, including the marine, which Clay mentioned last week. I was very happy to hear that because I liked his voice but Simon et al didn't like country music.
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