Did Hubdub predict who lost on American Idol tonight?
By Tisha (Entertainment editor)
American Idol results tonight - there’s seven kids left and it’s time to get excited: Hubdubbers are going to be put to the test as they predict who will be the American Idol winner this year.
Despite Sayesha, Brooke and Kristy Lee being stubborn Hubdub elimination favourites week after week, Michael Johns’ shock exit last week was a stark reminder that the worst singers don’t necessarily go home first (and lots of Hubdollars were lost as a result!). There’s clearly more to calculating the American Idol results than mere talent; let’s explore some of the components of this algorithm:
1. The judges: First and most obvious thing – Paula is mere decoration on this panel, her opinions are clearly irrelevant often because they are usually not opinions at all but vague niceties, cliches of encouragement or agreement with the others’ opinions. However, how do Randy and Simon influence the voter’s opinions? There’s no doubt that Simon has professional respect in the field, but his harsh words sometimes focus on the technical to the point of excluding the charisma factor of the contestants. Randy has to spend too much energy trying to validate his opinions against Simon.
2. The curse of going first: By the time the troupe has finished spinning out their songs, the first performance is long forgotten and in the case of an average performance, has nothing to recommend a vote. This has been considered Johns’ downfall.
3. Song choice: Jason Castro covering Mariah Carey is not an image that is easy to reconcile in one’s mind. However, when the singers perform songs which seem to be out of their depth, they can create memorable performances which will tend to attract the votes.
4. Gender: Girls have won 4 out of six previous idol seasons. However, the girls have been a lacklustre group this year and don’t seem to have the unique characters that this year’s boys do.
5. Sympathy Votes: David Cook’s brother, currently undergoing treatment for cancer, flew in on a specially chartered medical jet to watch his little bro perform last night. Not to undermine the tragedy of Adam Cook’s illness, but this brings into focus the public scrutiny of the entire lives and families of the performers.
The two Davids are currently close favourites on Hubdub to win the title this year. We all have our favourite personalities and singers, but when it comes down to it, there will only be one American Idol and that is the one who knows how to play the entire game. See if you can pick it!
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