Have you noticed anything different about this season's American Idol?
Yes, Simon Cowell hasn't been anywhere near as mean as he has been in previous seasons. Actually, he's been downright nice and pleasant at times. He's hugged contestants, awed over cute puppies, and has even felt bad about dashing the dreams of a couple of auditioner's. Heck, he even walked out of the audition room with one contestant because she was crying so hard. I'm not sure if this is one of the signs of the apocolypse, but it's not the difference I'm referring to.
True, Paula Abdul is making sense when she talks. I've actually quoted her a few times on my weekly radio show already this season. Although that wouldn't have been possible the last few seasons, it's not the difference I'm referring to.
The difference I'm talking about happens before we even see the judges, the contestants, Ryan, or anything else. It happens during the opening credits. Or, more accurately, it doesn't happen during the opening credits.
I'm talking about the removal of Taylor Hicks' image during the opening credits. And only Taylor's image has been removed. All five of the other Idol winners are still up there. Kelly Clarkson, Reuben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, and Jordin Sparks are all still shown while the computer generated person rides up the elevator to the top floor and walks down the catwalk on his way to the American Idol logo.
I missed this omission the first night the show was on. It wasn't until someone mentioned it on our American Idol board that I noticed Taylor's image had been removed. At first, I was shocked that the show would actually remove the image of a previous winner from their opening credits. That was soon followed by disbelief, which was soon replaced by anger.
What has amazed me most about this ommission, though, is the almost complete lack of discussion about it. While there were a couple of threads about Taylor's AI removal, they both quickly faded into back pages territory on the forum. To be fair, though, many Soul Patrollers quit watching American Idol last season following Simon's wholly inappropriate "gum on his face" comment, the show's refusal to put Taylor's picture in the center of the audition backdrops (something they have done with every other Idol), and the clear favoritism the producers showed Chris Daughtry at the clear expense of Taylor (something that has never been done with any other Idol). So maybe to my fellow Soul Patrollers, this was just more of the same.
Something else that has amazed me is the lack of news articles written about Taylor being removed from the opening credits. To date I have seen zero articles written about it. Is there not at least one entertainment reporter somewhere who thinks this omission is blatant enough to warrant making a few phone calls?
Personally, I suspect Taylor's removal has something to do with the fact that he was dropped by the recording arm of the company that produces the show. But wait a minute! Reuben Studdard was dropped from the same record label a few days before Taylor was. Yet Reuben's image is still in the opening credits. Why is that? Who made the decision to pull Taylor's image but not Reuben's image? Mind you, I have nothing against Reuben. I think he has a great voice and deserved to win. But I just want someone to explain to me why Reuben's image is still show when Taylor's image isn't.
I recently placed a poll on the main page of our Website. In it, I ask if you thought Reuben Studdard's image should have been removed as well. So far (the poll will be open until February 12), 257 people have cast their votes. 189 people (74%) say that yes, Reuben's image should have been removed while 68 people (26%) say that no, Reuben's image should not be removed.
In my opinion, American Idol is a TV entertainment/reality show. Despite the fact that the show is owned and produced by the people who also have a stake in the recording side of things, AI should never be affected by what is hapenning on the recording side of the business. As such, Taylor's image should not have been removed from the opening credits (and, for the record, neither should Reuben's image).
What are your thoughts?
Tags: Taylor Hicks, American Idol, Birmingham, Alabama
# posted by Alan @ 10:16 AM
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