Say Anything Blog

Elton John thinks the people who are voting for singers on the American Idol show are racist.

From Reuters:

John, who heard the wannabe pop stars perform his songs during an appearance on the FOX TV show, added his voice to a chorus of dissent that followed last week's shock exit of black vocalist Jennifer Hudson, considered one of the top talents among those vying for a recording contract.

"The three people I was really impressed with, and they just happened to be black, young female singers, and they all seem to be landing in the bottom three," said John, commenting on the tally in which the lowest vote-getter is eliminated.

"They have great voices. The fact that they're constantly in the bottom three -- and I don't want to set myself up here -- but I find it incredibly racist," John said at a news conference promoting his Radio City Music Hall concert backed by an orchestra of students from London's Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School of New York.

I've never watched American Idol so I'm not certain I'm qualified to express an opinion on this subject, but I do have a theory despite that.

I have a great deal of respect for Elton John. If he says somebody is talented then I'm inclined to believe him. I have no doubt that he believes that some of the people being voted off the show are very talented. The problem is, the viewers of the show may have a different definition of talented.

I don't think that the entertainment industry is really in touch with what the average citizen likes when it comes to music. Hollywood had refused to do religious movies for years until the Passion came along and proved that religious movies were what a good portion of the population wanted all along.

So perhaps its not all that surprising that some of entertainment's big-wigs would be surprised by the voting results of a show like American Idol. But why are the black performers the ones being voted off?

Again, I have very little experience with American Idol, so bear with me. When it comes to singing and performing blacks have a certain style. Black performers often sing and dance differently than white performers. Now, of course, this isn't an absolute rule but in general its a serviceable theory.

Keeping that in mind, could it be said that perhaps the majority of American Idol voters don't really prefer the way the blacks are performing the music? It doesn't have to mean that the blacks are inferior performers, just that maybe their style isn't as popular with American Idol viewers as some of the other performers.

I'll probably never be able to answer my own questions as I don't plan on watching American Idol any time in the future, but its an interesting discussion.