American Idol: Bring Back Melinda

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Wed May 16, 2007 at 10:47:34 PM EST
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Melinda, Blake, Jordin

Ok, I've only watched American Idol for the past four weeks since Bon Jovi was on and they did their Africa benefit. Tonight was the selection for the finals and one of the final three contestants, Melinda, Blake or Jordin was going home.

Melinda was the most accomplished singer by miles, in my opinion. Jordin had the best personality and is a really good singer. Blake left me cold.

So how could Melinda get sacked? Because America voted. 60 million votes in 24 hours. And they selected Blake and Jordin.

What does this mean?

More...

I tend to think of it in terms of juries. Lawyers need to know what People Magazine and shows like American Idol are putting out there, because the public watches and reads about these things, obsessively. And the public serves on juries.

Think about this -- 60 million votes since last night. That's an incredible public response. If you're picking a jury, you need to be in tune with what the public watches, reads and thinks. Pop culture is important to them and the average citizen knows far more about who got booted off American Idol than they do about Alberto Gonzales or which U.S. Attorneys were fired.

But, how could they go for so bland a guy like Blake? He was definitely the centrist of the group. The least pizzazz, the least singing ablility, the least star potential. Not that he was bad, he just didn't match the other two.

There's a message here somewhere, and it may just be that obsessive teens who got to vote ten times each skewed the results. And they aren't on juries yet.

Still, I'm just shaking my head that Melinda Doolitle, the singer with the most passion, vocal range and talent, got the boot.

I'm tempted to add an American Idol question to my next voir dire. I'm not sure I'd want a Blake fan judging my out-of-the -mainstream clients. If I were the Government, I probably would go for the safe bet like Blake.

On a political level, maybe we should take note and stop the faxing and telephone calls to Congress and start texting. It seems to make a big difference. Who's got their cell phone directory?

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American Idol: Bring Back Melinda | 7 comments (7 topical)

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Amer. Idol voting (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by wlgriffi on Thu May 17, 2007 at 09:51:14 AM EST

What difference does it make? I don't watch the show and I don't care who wins or loses. They don't sing anymore. They scream and jump around. Jeralyn your bias for the femmes is well known. But I don't think any of the "Idol" gals can compare to Judy Garland or Peggy Lee.

: REAL singing (none / 0) (#7)
by wumhenry on Thu May 17, 2007 at 04:21:53 PM EST

I don't think any of the "Idol" gals can compare to Judy Garland or Peggy Lee.
Yeah, Jeralyn: skip the next Idol show, rent Babes on Broadway on DVD, and watch the Garland/Rooney "How About You?" number instead.

aren't pretty much all (none / 0) (#1)
by cpinva on Thu May 17, 2007 at 12:41:57 AM EST

your clients "out-of-the-mainstream"? if they weren't, they probably wouldn't be your clients to begin with. in fact, i think it's probably fair to say that any criminal defendant is "out-of-the-mainstream", by definition.

i've never watched the show, ever. however, i can answer your question: blake, the (by your description) bland contestant, was picked for exactly that reason: he's bland.

with a total population N of 300 million to draw from, that's exactly what you're going to get. i wouldn't attempt to extrapolate this downward, to the much smaller population N that is a jury pool, it won't work, unless you have the exact same demographics.

small group dynamics are significantly different from large group dynamics, attempting to draw parallels between the two could well have an adverse affect on your client.

: Really? (none / 0) (#5)
by squeaky on Thu May 17, 2007 at 11:34:25 AM EST

i think it's probably fair to say that any criminal defendant is "out-of-the-mainstream", by definition.
How do you justify that? Innocent person or even guilty not in the mainstream?
Hard to imagine.

Two girls? (none / 0) (#2)
by Slado on Thu May 17, 2007 at 08:40:46 AM EST

I may not be correct but there has only been one all girl final of the previous 5 seasons. Maybe people picked between the two girls so Blake got a pass even though his be bop schtick his getting really old.

It's really hard to say but I agree with you Melinda was clearly the better singer but when did that ever matter in show biz?

Jeralyn (none / 0) (#4)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu May 17, 2007 at 11:24:19 AM EST

Not winning doesn't mean going back to working at McD's. All the finalists will have their full shot at pro careers.

Trust me, all last night did was give Melinda a one week head start on getting her pro career going. And it will go - however a pop-diva she is not, imo. (And that's a good thing, imo)

Jordin is great, amazing that she's just 17 years old, her pro pop career will have to wait another week.

Blake has middling vocals and seems like a nice, affable guy, in that safe, non-threatening, pop-music sort of way that pre and early teen girls seem to dig.

That said, I think those obsessive teens are the ones who buys most of the pop music these days.

Blake Edwards vs. Jordin Sparks? (none / 0) (#6)
by Madison Guy on Thu May 17, 2007 at 02:27:15 PM EST

We Read the WaPo So You Don't Have To: The second career of Blake Edwards as Idol performer. Good thing the Washington Post's Iraq reporting is more careful and reliable than their TV reporting. Oh. Never mind.