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America votes, but TV producers build the ballot box

PREVIEW: American Idol airs tonight at 8 on WTVT-Ch. 13, with the two finalists performing, followed by the two-hour season finale Wednesday night at 8, when the winner will be revealed.

By SEAN DALY
Published May 23, 2006

	You make the call Tonight's the night to cast your final vote. Who will be the next American Idol? And the winners aren't. . . What happened to the picks Sharon Fink and Sean Daly made in their March 14 chart in Floridian previewing Idol's final 12?

If it had been up to the mustache-twirling producers of American Idol, smooth-pated rocker Chris Daughtry would be battling Soul Patroller Taylor Hicks for the title tonight instead of curvy warbler Kat McPhee.

From video flames to spreading gossip, the manipulative masterminds behind the No. 1 TV show in the country pulled out every trick to help Daughtry, who was eliminated by viewers’ votes two weeks ago.

And why wouldn’t they? A metal-edge heartthrob, he would have been the genre-perfect continuation of Idol’s winners list: Kelly Clarkson (pop), Ruben Studdard (gospel), Fantasia Barrino (R&B) and Carrie Underwood (country).

This is a show that thrives on filling up a safe, tried-and-true formula with refreshing twists. A rock star helps sell the show to yet another music-buying demographic.

Remember, American Idol isn’t just a TV program; it’s a billion-dollar industry that also sells albums, concert tours, magazines, video games, even toothpaste. Thirty-second ad spots on the show this season cost a record $705,000 — about $250,000 more than the same commercial time on the No. 2 show, CSI. Idol has managed to accomplish something no other reality show has: It’s getting MORE popular as it gets older, now averaging approximately 30-million viewers a week.

Idol has been compared with a presidential election — the polling numbers, the regional biases, the infatuation with hairdos — and that comparison isn’t far off.

Yes, your vote counts, good citizens. But the way spinners and handlers get you voting is masterfully manipulative.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a handful of sneaky ways producers get you to vote (almost) exactly how they want.

Backstory

Over the course of the season, producers and contestants are typically mum on the inner workings of the show. Several times I chatted with Tampa’s Melissa McGhee, the first of the final 12 to be eliminated, but she wouldn’t tell me much. However, she did reveal that in the early rounds, she was the last of those who ended up in the final 12 to get significant air time. She thinks that contributed to her dismissal.

That’s a great point. By the time you first laid eyes on McGhee, we already knew biographical details of all the performers who wound up doing well: Daughtry married a single mom with two kids; McPhee had a show-biz mom and a weepy dad; Hicks was a goofy fish-out-of-water in an Alabama soul band; and Elliott “the Amish Leprechaun” Yamin had diabetes and loved his mother.

It’s all about emotional investment. You vote for who you know.

Performance Perks

How much did Idol love corn pone con artist Kellie Pickler?

Huckleberry Blond was the first contestant this season to break the “fourth wall,” performing one of her songs in the studio audience. That’s a rock star move right there, akin to stage-diving or signing autographs. Look, she’s mingling with the masses!

The funny thing is, Pickler couldn’t sing a lick, but Idol didn’t care. People either loved her or hated her, visceral reactions that make for great ratings. Plus, her backstory was juicy: Papa Pickler was in the pokey for stabbing someone (in a Pasco County trailer park!). Even better, the jailbird was getting released during TV’s all-important “sweeps” ratings period!

So the show set her up to succeed, along with Daughtry: Both always seemed to be performing in front of those cheesy video “flames,” an incendiary backdrop that turned the ho-hum studio into a rock show.

And when there wasn’t fire, there was smoke. The night before McGhee was eliminated, she performed Stevie Wonder’s Lately sitting on a stool. When Daughtry performed Higher Ground, he got smoke machines, strobe lights, wild camera angles, a twirling microphone stand and a backup band of wailing guitars. Sure, it didn’t help that McGhee botched a few words.

But it also didn’t help that her production values were Lawrence Welkian compared to Daughtry’s Red Hot Chili Peppers video.

 The John Mellencamp Rule

A few years ago, after John Mellencamp opted to go first at a star-studded benefit concert, I asked the rocker why he chose the leadoff spot.

That’s when people are paying attention, Mellencamp said. Everyone is “eating chips and talking” during the middle of the show.

This could also be called the Idol Rule. Daughtry, Pickler and Hicks made a living either starting the show or ending it, while such also-rans as

Bucky Covington and Lisa Tucker were usually stuck in the middle.

Psst, Did You Hear About . . .

You know Idol likes you when they start spreading nasty rumors about you. This is a great way to make sure specific contestants remain watercooler fodder days after the show airs.

McPhee has benefitted most from Idol’s loose lips. During one of the first weeks, show host Ryan Seacrest asked McPhee about rumors that she was pregnant. It was a bizarre, out-of-nowhere moment, but guess what? People are still whispering about her nonexpanding tummy four months later.

Daughtry had to deal with two rumors: (1) Did a “famous” band really approach him about becoming its lead singer? (2) Why didn’t he credit the band Live after performing its version of Johnny Cash’s I Walk the Line on ’50s week?

Hicks’ famously gray hair even had buzz: Would he be reaching for the Grecian Formula any time soon? “Tune in and find out,” Hicks said, smiling.

 Judge Love

Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell aren’t the most original people in the world, but they may be the most predictable. That’s why their early adoration of Pickler was so confounding — and why their about-face dismissal of her was so head-scratching. Perhaps they didn’t want two country-singing champs in a row? Hmm.

Yamin also received curious judge treatment. He’s a fine singer, sure, but on several occasions, Cowell went too far in his praise, at one point calling him the best male vocalist the show has ever had! Call me cynical, but I often pictured a preshow rah-rah session for Yamin, summoning up the spirit of beloved second-placer Clay Aiken. Let’s keep this guy! He’s getting the Claymate vote!

For the last few weeks, Hicks has been getting the star treatment. Dancing with Abdul, doing the first Springsteen song in Idol history, giving an impromptu performance of Jailhouse Rock because movie starlet Rebecca Romijn requested it. Hicks is their boy now, a much easier sell-job than the beautiful yet boring McPhee.

In fact, Hicks and Daughtry’s reign makes me think of the first few episodes, when the judges were asked who was going to win Season Five.

It’s going to be a guy this year, they all predicted.

Of course it will.

Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8467. His blog is at www.sptimes.com/blogs/popmusic.

[Last modified May 31, 2006, 10:37:18]