Many people all across America are angry that Jennifer Hudson was voted off of American Idol last night, and are beginning to blame many things that may have factored into the loss of the contestant. TV entertainment newsmagazine "Extra" believes that the storm that caused many power outages in the Midwest could have played a large role in Hudson being voted off. More than 15,000 people in Chicago, which is also Hudson's hometown, were unable to watch American Idol Tuesday night, let alone call in and vote.
Hudson, Fantasia Barrino and La Toya London — "The Three Divas," as they've become known — seemed to have the best shot at taking the Fox TV contest. But they were less popular than their competition, including redheaded crooner John Stevens, a 16-year-old whose highest compliment from the judges was that he was a nice guy.
Many people are beginning to believe the show is rigged, and even racist aswell.
I am a local from oakland(Latoya's hometown)and although I think she is great she is number 2 next To Jennifer Hudson.I am extremely disappointed in the elimintaion of the strongest voice that was in the competition.
I agree with you. I felt Jennifer really grew, and had just found her place. Next thing you know, she is out of the show before she even had the chance to REALLY show us what she's got...
I hear ya! I got chills everytime she sang!I can't imagine what level she would have stepped it up to had she gone on to the last few rounds.
I hope thsi doesn't get me kicked off but for what it's worth,if you are out there Jennifer and read this we'd love to have you sing for us![Removed URL] Best wishes!
edit: Jeremy - 2004-04-22 23:40:55 GMT - Removed URL
The voting certainly left a lot to be desired and has raised important questions. They have to change the voting - it just is not working when someone of this quality is voted off.
I thought the voting REALLY sucked this time. I don't think George is that good and I especially don't like JS. The bottom three was my top 3. What are these votes based on? It's like they are trying to vote against the best ones. I can't imagine who the winner might be with the way the voting has gone. At least they got rid of JPL and Camille.
I liked Jennifer okay at first, but not as much as some of the others. But she's improved every week, her style, her poise, her mannerisms. Wow, she was fun to watch. Coming on strong. This just stinks. There has to be some kind of "repair" to the situation. If a large portion of the country, espcially her home town area, couldn't vote, yes that would have been hugely impactive.
I'm sure though, with the exposure she's received, the praise lavished on her by Manilow, Elton & even Tarantino, *and* with Randy's obvious fury, surely she'll receive some kind of a record contract.
And the crappy thing they did to George was unconscionable! I would imagine that he should have felt safe sitting there alone on the couch for all those commercials, but obviously they've pulled some tricks before, so he couldn't have been certain...And then to have him "assume" who were the winners. Granted, he should have spoken up & said "you didn't say which was which." But he didn't & probably not only felt like he hurt Diana's & Jasmine's & Jons feelings, and they're probably all friends, but then was also as shocked & dismayed at the rest of the country that a blossoming talent should be eliminated.
I really think FOX should bring her back this week and eliminate two. If she wants to come back. These singers are made of stronger stuff than me. I don't think I could take national rejection twice, but she's ambitious. I think that's how the loser of the week can manage to sing once more the song that America just told them that they hated!
While I also read that the tornadoes across the Midwest knocked out phone service for 15,000 people in Jennifer's hometown, I think that there is no chance in heck that the producers will bring her back.
As has been before in similar situations, their position is that they have no control over what happens to voters and their ability to call in, and that American has made their decision and its not their place to change that.
I think FOX and the producers take a very cold and heartless approach to all the contestants. From ruthlessly eliminating people who have been charged with something as minor as jaywalking to manipulating and humiliating people like they did to George last night, I think everyone behind this show should be ashamed of themselves. Well, now everyone that is pissed off is gonna be watching and voting, so the producers got what they wanted: ratings!
I'm really angry at what happened and now I'm gonna play dirty. In order to compete with these crazed John Stevens' fans, we ALL need to vote with the automatic redial programs! Get it here at net2phone.com ... peace
I would like to correct the assumption that has been made here - just because John Stevens got more votes does not mean he is more popular nor does it mean he has more fans. Based on the way the voting works, it could also mean that he has more fans willing to call 300 times. This to me indicates that he has more "teeny bopper" fans. My 16 year old niece, for instance, would be willing to spend two hours straight voting for her "fav" contestant. I on the other hand will only vote once (as it should be, in my opinion).
It would be nice to see how many votes they received if you could only vote once per person.
I'm very mad at Fox right now . . . I'm sure I'll get over it and continue to watch American Idol, in respect to the other contestants, however, I won't vote anymore. To drop one of my most favorite singers on the show, is just sad. Hopefully, she will turn out like Tamyra G., and Kimberely L., because if she does I would surely buy one of her cd's . . . and that is the whole point of American Idol. The show promotes singers so they can get a recording contract or be idolized. Jennifer H. deserves the best, and should not of been kicked off this week. Personally, I thought the order to be kicked off would be . . . 1) John Steven, 2) George Huff, 3) Jasmine Trias, 4) Diana Degarmo, 5) Fantasia, and then 6) La Toya London . . . leaving us to our American Idol Jennifer Hudson. America what's wrong with you? Do you seriously believe John Steven's performance left the same impression one would feel from Jennifer. No! Besides, Steven's was flat on 6 notes, two of which were noticable right away to one's ear. America hopefully you will turn around and hear the real talents. Jennifer you will always be my Idol!
As usual, the whiney minority is also the loudest. America voted. Whether you like the results or not, this is the way a democracy works. That said, if you don't like the system, DO something to change it. This whole vote-as-much-as-you-want deal is not the way to run a vote. Hell, if it were, Nader may have actually won in 2000, LOL.
What it comes down to is that it is supposed to be a reality show and as we all know reality is harsh sometimes.However,for Jennifer to be considered a singer that is not as good as J.S isn't reality either.That is not a personal preference (even though I feel she was the strongest singer in the competition)or an opinion that is litterally and musically speaking technically a fact.
It was a travesty that all 3 of the "bottom three" were in the ...well..bottom three.
And I think we ALLLLL can agree that John S does not have more fans, like many have posted here...its the youngunns who can dedicated 2 hours to the redial button or rig up thier dial up modems to re-call for them.
Maybe letting John S win...and fail miserably after his one year contract is up because he didn't sell enough, will change producers minds about the voting system. MAYBE BEING PASSIVE IN VOTING WILL MAKE A POINT. Aftte all, we KNOW fantasia, Jennifer and Latoya will have long careers with or without AI.
The real decider of this game is the money the show is making....are they making more money on advertising or text messaging? That will be what decides what producers do next year for voting.
If more money comes from Advertising and enough of us already feel p.oed...then we wont watch and it will hit 'em in the wallet.... whereas if they are making more moolah in the text messaging...as long as those 16 year olds keep it up for 2 hours at a span...they will keep the voting system.
The producers could ATTEMPT to maintain some longevity by injecting a little integrity into the voting system....just a suggestion.
Hell, Give people one less vote per household as there are performers per week...that way, each household can vote up to 11 times at the beginning....down to 2 times at the end...Just a thought...Maybe Amy would still be there and JPL and John would have left long ago.
It was a total shock regarding the voting last night. Honestly, AT&T should be held accountable for what happened with the network during the storms and allow America to re-vote. Air the Tuesday performance again. America recast their votes with a working network. I betcha those results would be a lot different tipping in the three top divas's favor. It would be a fair solution. The red head, too young to try to belt out mature tunes, needs to go home to mamma and perform local stage shows. George needs to be gone too. He's good, but he ain't that good. I was expecting an all girl show at the end. Now, some Americans and AT&T messed that up. It would have been an even better showdown than last season. I wish all of the contestants well. Jennifer will show everybody and have a record contract before the season ends. You go girl.
From that article that the above article is referring to:
"As proven with last night's results, you can never assume that any contestant is safe," said "American Idol" executive producer Ken Warwick. "You can never assume that they have enough votes. It's imperative that viewers vote for their favorite idol every week."
Gee...do you think that maybe this 'bottom 3' was a set up to boost thier text messaging at all? Me thinks I was nieve earlier believing that the executives weren't directly manipulating outcomes. I am far more cynical...
This is an online petition to Fox change the voting system. Someone posted it on the last AI post board so I thought this might be a good place for it too for anyone interested!
Don't take my comments the wrong way(I don't think you did, but I want to be clear about it anyway). I thought that vote was a total travesty. But in the end I thought about the voting process and said, "America voted, and this is the way it turned out." I don't think the system is rigged by the producers. Seriously flawed, definitely. But everyone knows the rules going into it, and the final vote is what America as a collective seems to want.
Yes, I am anger too that the program "American Idol" does
not reflect what America thinks. It 's a waste of time to watch
this program and if this keeps occur then this program will not
be the hot TV program anymore. It's a waste of my time to watch this program that does not support real talent. They
really messed it up. I suggest that this should be re-voted!!
Oh, and on a side note - We'll see who the real winners are when deals are signed and albums produced. People aren't going to flock to see the American Idol, they're going to flock to see their favourite performer. Look at how Clay turned out. Even the Garth Brooks poser from last season has an album. Every runner up seems to be getting album deals, so the title of American Idol is moot. Everyone beyond the top 5 or 6 is almost guaranteed a record contract no matter who wins. I hope that is of some comfort to those who were pissed about the results this week. I don't think it will be long before Jennifer start work on an album.
