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.  [...]]]> 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.