He's Not MY Idol

Last night was supposed to be the crowning of the AMERICAN Idol, but it wasn’t. For the second time America witnessed the crowning of Simon Cowell’s idol. Granted, this time was a little more fair, as the votes were tied, and it’s in the rules that the judges get to be the tiebreakers. Not so in the case of Reuben Studdard and Clay Aiken.
Clay Aiken won American Idol by a landslide, but the judges reversed the numbers, giving his votes to Reuben and Reuben’s to Clay. Why? They feared the public would perceive Clay as gay, which they do. They mistakenly thought this would affect his marketability. But who’s career has taken off? Clay’s. His records outsell Reuben’s, his face is plastered in more places. I’d wager that many fans have forgotten that Reuben Studdard beat out Clay for the title of American Idol.
The next few months should prove to be interesting, after the finalists have finished their time in the spotlight with the Idol tours and the finalists’ CD and whatever the show does to cash in on the people labeled losers. I’d be very interested to see whether Katherine can do to Taylor what Clay did to Reuben, and I’m not even a fan of the show.