…And say hello to America’s Cutest Guy Featuring Siobhan and Crystal. I initially have no plans to blog about American Idol (as mentioned in my previous journal entry) but it feels bad not to write a sendoff writeup to Didi Benami since she is one of my favorite contestants this year. I hastily finished my power rankings prior to elimination night last week so I was not able to write about Didi’s exit in there.
NOTE: This blog is not about Didi Benami only.
Last Wednesday, I wrote that I was ‘losing my faith’ on Didi after her subpar performance. I even compared her to a garbage stock which has high return but has high risk as well. But unlike a garbage stock which I give up as soon as it starts plunging to cut losses, I did not totally give up on Didi. I still had some emotional investment (as a fan) on Didi so by the time she got the boot last Thursday, I was devastated. Yes, you read it right – I was devastated. It rarely happens these days even if I am a diehard fan of something (unless it is Ateneo losing to La Salle). Actually, Didi is just my 2nd favorite this year (I obviously like Siobhan better) but it still hurts.
Fans do something to ease the pain when their favorites get defeated. Bill Simmons a.k.a. The Sports Guy gets by his frustrations by walking his dog for thirty minutes to an hour when his Boston team gets defeated. Most fans release their stress by drinking. That is one of my usual methods but since it was Holy Week (it’s even Holy Thursday), I could not drink a drop of liquor. It was torture. I just slept it off. I actually slept up to 2 PM after I learned the news at 10 AM that day. What is even worse is that I proclaimed Didi as my best dark horse of the season (Kris Allen Theory). I ate my words a week after that.
Didi did disappoint. (Too many di’s in the previous sentence.) As a fan, I may have lowered my expectations of her but I still kept my faith on her. That’s what fans do. Fans might be reasonable and level-headed to some extent (to the point that they may bash their favorite), but true fans stay with their favorites through thick and thin. That is why you do not see Siobhan in the Bottom Three despite of her weak performance. I may be on the verge of giving up on Didi but I did not since I already had an emotional investment on her as a fan.
I may have eaten my words from two weeks ago (and Didi really did fail me on that regard), but I still feel terrible on her elimination. She had so much potential. (Remember her Terrified performance?) She has the best recording voice in the competition and she appeals to casual fans due to her looks. I also thought that she can have an off performance since two girls already left. That and Tim Urban has been terrible for five of the six live show weeks. But still, Didi ends up as this year’s Alexis Grace (at least Didi is in the tour). Can somebody hand me over the ice cream, please?
How does eating my words taste? My words taste bitter.
Do not get me wrong about the crying thing though. With or without crying, I am not complaining. I can still remember getting into a healthy argument with a friend before when it comes to crying competitors. My friend mentioned to me that she hates it when competitors cry as it appears to be staged or a showoff. On the other side, I defended those who cry (especially at defeat). It is because I think that crying is a normal human emotion and it just shows that the competitor cares. That is how he/she values the competition. And I care for those who care rather than those who do not give a rat’s ass on competing. I can still remember crying when my favorite basketball team lost when I was a kid. I hated crying but I could not control it then. What more for those who are the actual players/contestants? They obviously value it more and they do not want to get embarrassed by crying in the limelight. Trust me, they are not overacting as some people think they are. That is why I feel for Didi when Siobhan and Crystal gave her hugs at the end of her elimination.
One more ice cream pl… Oh wait, the Holy Week has ended. One can of beer, please!
To those who have felt devastated after their favorite gets eliminated, check out this YouTube clip that I recently discovered. It is effin’ hilarious.
The Demographics
It is now time to analyze why Didi Benami got the boot (this beats me up to the present time). Here are my hypotheses on the demographics of the voters.
The last two eliminated contestants were both females. There were no male contestants that were eliminated yet so it was actually a surprise that Didi was eliminated. On the two eliminated female contestants, I believe a part of Lacey’s fans went to Didi as both are known for their unique tone of voice. Both are also attractive so the hormone-charged males may have switched to Didi when Lacey was eliminated. However if I am not mistaken, both Lacey and Paige were Texans. Thus, some of them might have ended on Tim’s corner.
I believe that Crystal, Siobhan and Lee have huge fanbases due to their talent alone. Casey and Mike are not far behind either. I think Andrew also has a huge fanbase since he has never been into the Bottom Three. Aaron and Katie both benefit from the teenybopper vote (but the latter has fewer as evidenced by her Bottom Three appearance). Aaron also had the pimp spot last week so it is understandable that he is not going to leave. Thus, the Bottom Three was just logical demographic-wise. I think Didi lost a lot of votes when 1) she started talking back to the judges; 2) changed her style and failed at it; and 3) she lost the sympathy card because the Didi-Siobhan fans had to rally/vote-split for Siobhan since she has been more consistent between the two.
However, what amazes me is the fact that Tim continues to stay despite the fact that he tanked for three straight weeks and has been in the Bottom Three ever since. He does not have the full Texan support as Casey has been the better Texan thus far. There are logical reasons as to why Didi got the boot but there are more perplexing conclusions that Tim was able to survive three straight weeks of horrible performances. This brings us to my main point of discussion…
Why American Idol Season 9 is Officially Dead
It is not because Didi was eliminated. American Idol Season 9 was on life support when we had the three shocking eliminations prior to the Top 12 but this time, the season – as Randy illustrated Didi’s recent performance – flatlined. This season jumped the shark because of the time when Didi got eliminated. (That and because we are missing Paula. More on that on my next American Idol blog.) I know Didi will get eliminated soon (probably two to three weeks from now based from her recent performance) but leaving at #10 is too early given the circumstances.
There were two females eliminated prior to Didi’s elimination so one may expect that it’s a male’s turn last week. It did not happen. It just shows that females just cannot beat the males in a fair game in the show. Didi had subpar performances for the past two while Tim was heavily criticized for most of the time and yet Didi was the one who was eliminated. American Idol Season 9 may still have both Siobhan and Crystal but the show has become too predictable for me – both of them WILL NOT WIN.
The past elimination just shows how skewed the voting process is towards the males. I know it was obvious in the past years but the recent elimination just drives the stake through the heart of this season. If an early female pimped contestant is not able to beat the likes of Tim or even any male in the group, what makes you think that we are still going to have a female winner this season? Yes, Crystal and Siobhan maybe heavy favorites right now but they both just lost their female buffer who is Didi. She is supposed to be the contestant who will give orphaned fans to either Siobhan or Crystal but since Didi was eliminated very early, it just goes to show that her orphaned fans are quite few. What about Katie then? Expect Katie to be eliminated in the next two weeks as she continues to go to the Bottom Three even if she had two good weeks. Also, Katie’s fans have more chance of going to Aaron’s side than Siobhan and Crystal. It is quite saddening because the show has become America’s Cutest Guy as the attractive male contestants get to have their free pass despite weeks of mediocre performances while females can barely afford one off week.
There is actually a counter-argument on my current hypothesis that there is no chance a female wins this year. According to my Internet research (of about one minute and fifteen seconds), the first three contestants eliminated in Season 4 were females and guess what? Carrie Underwood won. However, power text voting was not as huge then as it is now. The fans who have abused power text voting have mastered it through the years. Its usage is much commercialized now than it was before. I think the teens have the texting power as well since they have the time to do it. Of course, AT&T won’t allow American Idol to change the voting process (more text messages/calls = more revenue). The last few seasons are also indications that the males tend to dominate. Syesha is the only female in the Top 3 for the past two years.
Ending Notes
I am still going to watch the show even if it has turned into America’s Cutest Guy featuring Siobhan and Crystal by now. (As promised) I will still write about this coming week’s performance week with a special twist. But, I would be delusional to think that Siobhan will win it all (it appeared that she could weeks ago but it is now a delusional thought after Didi got eliminated). I will probably stop watching when Siobhan gets eliminated. I will probably just download Crystal’s renditions from then on. There is rickey.org after all. I expect that to happen before or by the Top 5. This is how I see the eliminations happen: 9) Tim 8) Katie 7) Some guy 6) Siobhan or some other guy (Siobhan gets saved) 5) Siobhan 4) Michael/Aaron 3) Crystal 2) Casey 1) Lee. You can interchange anyone in the Top 3 since I think Crystal has a shot in going to the Finale. Crystal can actually get Andrew’s orphaned fans but she will split it with Michael Lynche if he is still in the competition. If a guy wins this year, I am calling it quits for this show forever since I do not want to see a sausagefest that reeks of talentless cute guys every year.
Siobhan might not win it all but I am sure that I will be her fan for the rest of the season. If there is one positive thing that Didi’s elimination made me realize, I do not give up on my favorites even if they are set up for defeat. Even if Siobhan makes a far worse performance than Through the Fire, she will still be my favorite (although I might be kicking myself out of disappointment if that happens).
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