GOODWIN: I spoke with Herb Stemple. And he told me that when a jew comes on and makes a lot of money they have a gentile come on and make twice as much.
ENRIGHT: See. He's crazy.
GOODWIN: Yeah, but I checked it out...and its true.
I have zero evidence to suggest that AI isn't on the up-and-up, but I have noticed something interesting. Many weeks, certain performances (and performers) stand out as being the worst of the group. On the results show the following night, the "clear choice" shockingly remains and we read, hear and see about the outrage afterward. People scream up and down until the next week when justice prevails and the "integrity" of the voting system of the show remains intact. What am I talking about? Well...
SEASON ONE:
When it got down to six (Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Tamara Gray, Christina Christian, RJ Helton and Nikki McKibbin) the one who clearly should have gone was RJ. He was just awful and even forgot the words. He'd been teetering before this (he was the sole wildcard) but this was clearly the end of the road. Instead, Christina Christian went. Everyone was shocked. Simon said to him point blank "You got lucky." Then, RJ got booted the following week.
When it was down to four, in arguably the biggest shocker of the whole show, Tamara went instead of Nikki McKibbin. Fans even played the race card, calling it "Rodney King II." The following week, Nikki said bye bye.
Kelly, the obvious best singer, won the whole thing so no one could really complain.
SEASON TWO:
Carmen stays instead of Kimberly Caldwell, but departs the following week. Josh Grayson finishes ahead of Rubben Studdard one week, then gets eliminated the next. People go crazy, but Ruben wins the whole thing.
SEASON THREE:
Jennifer Hudson gets eliminated instead of John Stevens. You read all about it on the net---then JS gets booted. LaToya goes, Jasmine stays -- next week Jasmine goes.
Again, I have zero evidence to proove anything, but the way that things have played out over and over have aided the ratings and increased reported voting numbers. The "wrongful eliminations" are minor blips in the big picture and the fan favorites are indeed the last ones standing.
So what will happen tonight? Beats me. Two things make it impossible to handicap AI: it can be difficult to tell where votes that went to the eliminated contestant the week before will wind up and the voting pool increases and decreases each week (it's mostly increased this season) and it's impossible to tell where new votes will go. I suppose Fantasia is the favorite over Diana DeGarmo, but I do think the judges are giving her too much credit. No doubt she deserves a record contract, but Simon saying she's the "best contestant" from any worldwide IDOL show of any season sounds like hyperbolic nonsense to try and spike record sales. I like Diana as well, but I think neither of them touches LUCY HALE, who made the AMERICAN JUNIORS lineup. The Juniors album hasn't come out and the show tanked in the ratings, but maybe that's a good thing. Lucy's WAAAAY too good for the group and should just start a solo career. Even though she's only 14, she'd bury the current crop of teen pop stars.
IRON CHEF
Although it's just on for specials these day, Iron Chef is still the best reality TV going. No other program comes close to showing the raw talent that this show consistently delivers. You are seeing literally the best in the world week after week and, even though you don't get to taste the food at home, their skills are obvious and a joy to watch.
In a recent three-match IRON CHEF AMERICA series, the Iron Chefs got shut out. Sakai lost to Bobby Flay, Morimoto lost to Mario Batali and then again to Wolfgang Puck. Interesting that in the last double-match special a few years ago, Morimoto lost to Flay and Sakai lost to Toshiro Kandagawa, head of the OTA FACTION. What this makes me realize is that "taste" is indeed subjective and that the Iron Chefs truly have inflated records. I place much of blame for this squarely on culinary critic ASAKO KISHI.
KISHI-SAN has to be the biggest homer judge going. I'm quite convinced she helped score Roy Jones Olympic boxing final in Korea. Don't get me wrong, I think the Iron Chefs are great and root for them a majority of the time, but Kishi San has given them gifts flat out. While it was frustrating to watch this last series of losses, I feel the Iron Chefs had it coming. Although I think Sakai deserved higher scores against Flay (certainly for presentation) Wolfgang Puck didn't beat Morimoto; he buried him. I was shocked to see how fired up Wolfgang was for this. His dishes were relentlessly inventive and on-theme in creative ways. Although he's based in LA, man does he not phone it in.
GOODWIN: Yeah, but I checked it out...and its true.
I have zero evidence to suggest that AI isn't on the up-and-up, but I have noticed something interesting. Many weeks, certain performances (and performers) stand out as being the worst of the group. On the results show the following night, the "clear choice" shockingly remains and we read, hear and see about the outrage afterward. People scream up and down until the next week when justice prevails and the "integrity" of the voting system of the show remains intact. What am I talking about? Well...
SEASON ONE:
When it got down to six (Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Tamara Gray, Christina Christian, RJ Helton and Nikki McKibbin) the one who clearly should have gone was RJ. He was just awful and even forgot the words. He'd been teetering before this (he was the sole wildcard) but this was clearly the end of the road. Instead, Christina Christian went. Everyone was shocked. Simon said to him point blank "You got lucky." Then, RJ got booted the following week.
When it was down to four, in arguably the biggest shocker of the whole show, Tamara went instead of Nikki McKibbin. Fans even played the race card, calling it "Rodney King II." The following week, Nikki said bye bye.
Kelly, the obvious best singer, won the whole thing so no one could really complain.
SEASON TWO:
Carmen stays instead of Kimberly Caldwell, but departs the following week. Josh Grayson finishes ahead of Rubben Studdard one week, then gets eliminated the next. People go crazy, but Ruben wins the whole thing.
SEASON THREE:
Jennifer Hudson gets eliminated instead of John Stevens. You read all about it on the net---then JS gets booted. LaToya goes, Jasmine stays -- next week Jasmine goes.
Again, I have zero evidence to proove anything, but the way that things have played out over and over have aided the ratings and increased reported voting numbers. The "wrongful eliminations" are minor blips in the big picture and the fan favorites are indeed the last ones standing.
So what will happen tonight? Beats me. Two things make it impossible to handicap AI: it can be difficult to tell where votes that went to the eliminated contestant the week before will wind up and the voting pool increases and decreases each week (it's mostly increased this season) and it's impossible to tell where new votes will go. I suppose Fantasia is the favorite over Diana DeGarmo, but I do think the judges are giving her too much credit. No doubt she deserves a record contract, but Simon saying she's the "best contestant" from any worldwide IDOL show of any season sounds like hyperbolic nonsense to try and spike record sales. I like Diana as well, but I think neither of them touches LUCY HALE, who made the AMERICAN JUNIORS lineup. The Juniors album hasn't come out and the show tanked in the ratings, but maybe that's a good thing. Lucy's WAAAAY too good for the group and should just start a solo career. Even though she's only 14, she'd bury the current crop of teen pop stars.
IRON CHEF
Although it's just on for specials these day, Iron Chef is still the best reality TV going. No other program comes close to showing the raw talent that this show consistently delivers. You are seeing literally the best in the world week after week and, even though you don't get to taste the food at home, their skills are obvious and a joy to watch.
In a recent three-match IRON CHEF AMERICA series, the Iron Chefs got shut out. Sakai lost to Bobby Flay, Morimoto lost to Mario Batali and then again to Wolfgang Puck. Interesting that in the last double-match special a few years ago, Morimoto lost to Flay and Sakai lost to Toshiro Kandagawa, head of the OTA FACTION. What this makes me realize is that "taste" is indeed subjective and that the Iron Chefs truly have inflated records. I place much of blame for this squarely on culinary critic ASAKO KISHI.
KISHI-SAN has to be the biggest homer judge going. I'm quite convinced she helped score Roy Jones Olympic boxing final in Korea. Don't get me wrong, I think the Iron Chefs are great and root for them a majority of the time, but Kishi San has given them gifts flat out. While it was frustrating to watch this last series of losses, I feel the Iron Chefs had it coming. Although I think Sakai deserved higher scores against Flay (certainly for presentation) Wolfgang Puck didn't beat Morimoto; he buried him. I was shocked to see how fired up Wolfgang was for this. His dishes were relentlessly inventive and on-theme in creative ways. Although he's based in LA, man does he not phone it in.