Fraud, No talent, Popularity Contest: This is American Idol! Has a show that has been on for nine seasons subjected themselves to a publicity stunt rather then trying to find true talent? And is that talent in fact true talent or are they receiving the votes due to their growing popularity? Kelly Clarkson, the Idol’s first winner was never in the “bottom three” and I feel was the right choice; she had great talent and won based on it. This contest has enough viewers and should not be contingent on the funny, inadequate singers, but the more talented ones.

In 2007, season six of American Idol took off. Hollywood Week went by, Top 24 was announced, and soon after the Top Ten. During the course of the season Sanjaya Malakar became the most talked about of the Idol contestants, not for his amazing voice, but for his inability to sing and his head of hair. Both Howard Stern and popular website Votefortheworst.com encouraged voters to vote for Sanjaya. Stern wanted “to corrupt the No.1 show on television.” Obviously they weren’t getting voters to vote due to Sanjaya’s amazing voice but for a humorous joke on the television show. Even Simon Cowell spoke about Sanjaya, announcing if Sanjaya was to win Cowell would not return to the show. Randy Jackson commented “I cannot even say anything on the vocals anymore” after his performance of the Top Nine. Finally on April 18th Malakar was voted off and American Idol viewers would no longer have to suffer. Did this season contradict itself as a “talent” competition when even the judges of the show were stunned that Malakar was still there?

Between 2002-2008 American Idol was the No.1 television show four times during the Finale Performances and Season Finale shows. A show with outstanding ratings and millions of viewers should be basing their show on what they are trying to find, an American idol. Instead the show allows the worst of singers through who look and sound like complete fools to higher their ratings. This is unnecessary when the show is based on finding a great singer who can be successful. Is this all a publicity stunt to the producers at Idol? Although they have added Idol Gives Back to their show, which helps countries and states in need of supplies, they should not be using these bad contestants as laughing stocks to draw in more viewers. The competition is supposed to be based on talent and is the opposite of what they are doing by bringing abominable singers, trying out and making it further then true talented contestants.

Finally “The Judges”, do they honestly have an affect on which contestants the voters are choosing? Kara DioGaurdi, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell speak their minds and give constructive criticism to contestants. It seems though that on every season Simon Cowell tells it like it is. Now with the new addition of Ellen DeGeneres to the panel has Idol lost its credibility? The singer’s fate is in the hands of the Idol watching Americans, who in fact may not be musically inclined but,perhaps, tone deaf. Is this a smart decision or should we allow the judges to get half the votes like on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars? The judges should have a say in the voting, they are professionals, have been in the music industry for along time, and most certainly know how well the contestant has performed. The fate of a future American Idol should not lay in the hands of a teenager calling to vote for who they currently think is the “hottest”, but who they feel is the most talented. If the judges had been given the opportunity to vote Idol would return to being a true talent competition and less a popularity contest.