American Idol Loses More Credibility

Ok, so anyone who knows me, knows my growing disdain for this show. I have long since argued that the show is not about music, but rather marketability. Now, I am not going to take away from the contestants that have won, because they are all great singers, but they also have a certain "thing" about them that is marketable.

The music industry is not about music any more, but rather what artist looks the best and can sell the most from their image. Being a musician myself, I can say that this mentality is pretty fucked up.

I am going back a little for this post.

Franchelle "Frenchie" Davis was a semi-finalist for American Idol back in season 2. Now, Frenchie was hands-down the best singer on that season, and, I will go out on a limb on this assertion, the best that AI has ever seen, save for current contestant, David Archuletta. Unfortunately, pictures surfaced of Frenchie posing topless on the Internet.

What is important to note; Frenchie had previously told producers of these photos, that were taken when she was 19, and nothing was done about it. Two months later, she was kicked off the show, because AI was a family oriented show, and those pictures would compromise its integrity.

Why did they wait two months, when they already had this knowledge, and they could saved her some embarrassment?

Fast forward to AI: Season 6.

Antonella Barba has photos surfaced of her in a see-through white shirt, with water falling on her, thus exposing her breasts. Granted, Antonella's pictures were private, but were leaked out, which I do not buy for a second. It is irrelevant that they were private, because AI is about family-oriented entertainment, and not about half-naked contestants, right?

WRONG!

Fast forward to AI: Season 7.

David Hernandez is outted for having worked, and by worked I mean danced, in a gay strip club. Did I forget to mention that he danced fully nude. Ok, here we have a man that gave nude lap-dances to other men in a gay strip club. Did AI disqualify him? Nope, but he was voted off of the show.

AI touts itself as family-oriented, right? Then why did they make exceptions for Antonella and David, but made an example of Frenchie?

Well, some would argue it was racism, and that is complete bull shit. No, in fact it was marketability. Both Antonella and David had an image that was viable in today's music industry. Frenchie did not. And why didn't she have that image? Well, frankly, she was overweight.


Draw your own conclusions.