Colorful Idols
posted by Naomi Cahn
About 100 million of us voted for the newest American Idol (crowned last night on the Fox Broadcasting show). “We” chose Kris Allen, a college student from Conway, AR, who likes to ”pray and stretch” before he performs and whose proudest moment was when he married his wife. Allen beat Adam Lambert, a musical theater actor from Hollywood, CA, who is obsessed with astrology and whose proudest moment was “falling in love.”
I must confess that I didn’t watch any of this season — or of any others — but my daughters have been keeping me informed. My professional interest was piqued by comments about whether Kris Allen’s victory is the “latest red state/blue state battle.” Allen has served as a church worship leader, and Lambert wore black nail polish on stage. On Huffington Post, Jim David argues that: “Allen’s Christianity, church roots and corn-fed wife were exploited, as were Lambert’s musical theatre roots (i.e. his ‘theatre fag’ history); “ Michael Glitz, who supported Allen, takes a longer view of American Idol, suggesting that if you “look at seasons past and where there’s a clear Christian vs secular showdown, the Christians have been winning handily.” Empiricists will certainly use the ”Gokey/third contestant” theory which suggests that, once Danny Gokey (the third of the final three contestants) and a church music director, dropped out, his votes had to go to one of the final two.
I look forward to your vote on whether this is a red/blue issue.
May 21, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Tags: American Idol, red/blue
Posted in: Culture
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