Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooo

Mama noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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**kicks rocks**

I ain't voting no more.

I felt kinda sorry to see Kimberly go..... :(

Well, this now means that I MUST kick my RUBEN campaign into overdrive.

2% my arse....I demand a recount!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would say I am speechless, but that's a lie...I just don't have any words to say that wouldn't be in violation of the GC terms of service! ;)

I hate to see her go too! She handled it very well though!

Yeah, I'll be getting my vote on next week too. Up to this point, I've been too lazy/impatient to actually vote, but now they done went and got my suga up. I'm sure Ruben will pick up the majority of Kimberly's votes, so I think he has a great chance.

I am not even watching anymore. No reason to.

and I MEAN that CHIT!!!!

OH....SO IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!! :p

Aww, damn... I really am over here feeling partly responsible, LOL. You know the saying... If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem ;). I promise to exercise my right to vote next week. (I know, I know... too little, too late and everything.)

Well, Well, Well......K Lo got told to kick rocks. I'm kinda sad by that, BUT I'm glad that Ruuuuuuuuuubennnnnnn gets to go on to the finals!!!!!! *Doing a little dance* :D

IMHO, Clay should have been told to kick rocks tonight based soley on that hot mess he pulled last night, but hey, he still pulled in the votes.

I know the 205 is CRUNK tonight!!!!!! :p :D It'll probably be on the news tomorrow. DEFINITELY ET and Inside Edition.

RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBEN!!

Sorry guys, Ruben is my fave...Clay would be another Frank Sinatra, leg popping and finger snapping with a little head roll.

I'm sorry ya'll, I like K-Lo but I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee Clay. :)

I've said since day one I didn't feel the whole Rueben thing. Ryan Seacrest made it worse with favoring him in the beginning with that whole "rueeeeeeeben" thing. I feel so bad that K.Lo is gone. She improved the most out of everyone there.

I'm voting for Clay, Rueben made me do a :rolleyes: :rolleyes: when he hugged Kim and then went back to his seat while Clay was still standing there hugging her and whatnot. Clay has always seemed more sincere to me and you best believe I'm voting like a mofo next week.


Me and CT4 are on the same page, he's wayyyy overrated.


QTE

ANDDDDDDDDD since i have radio in my favor, every DJ will say on their show next week to vote for Clay dangnabbit!



QTE

I was pissed that Clay did not get kicked off, but RUUUUUUUUUBEN is still alive and that's ALL that matters to me. :D I also can't believe that Clay had the nerve to shed a tear. Next week, voting for me will start at 8:55 PM.

Why when Clay has just as consistent as Rueben?

I just don't like Clay. He's funny looking and something about him just gets to me. Plus, I think overall K Lo improved more over the season than Clay. I know everyone says Ruben hasn't changed up his style, I agree. But, he's been my fave since the beginning. K Lo only began to really grow on me when she reached the finals. Clay has done NOTHING for me ALL season.

In my opinion Clay has the most pure voice. I just love hearing him sing. Can't wait for next week.

She handled it very well.

I think I'll have to cast my FIRST vote next week. Just because!

I need a reminder, though. I'm a AI neo of sorts. :cool:

Actually Clay and K. Lo really are very close (Ruben as well). I read somewhere that the three of them have become good friends since the competition started. K. Lo and Clay are even thinking of rooming together in L.A. after this thing is all over. If I could remember where I read it I would post a link, but alas, memory fails, lol.

Next week will be AI overkill of which I will not watch at all. I guess I can get tons done around the house for those 3 hours of my life.

<--------- getting ready for American Juniors.

I want to go on record that my favorite 2 were K Lo and Clay. Ruben has no range. People like him because he is cuddly, Black, heterosexual, male, smily, deep voice that stayed the same THROUGHOUT the entire competition.

I agree with Diva_01. I love me some Ruben too, and I am glad he is where he is, shoot I hope Simon was right when he told Fox that he felt Ruben would be the next AI.

I completely agree. American Idol has become The Ruben Show for weeks now, and I can't understand why! The velvet teddy bear persona seems to be something thrust upon him--he shows no signs of personality otherwise. Has anyone ever seen him put 2 complete sentences together? IMO, Ruben should have been gone weeks ago, before Trenyce and before Rickey. He's a good singer, but he has not rightfully earned all of the attention on the show. (and I've seen him seem to forget the words to songs too)

Now that K Lo is gone, all my votes will be going to Clay

And because he can sing, perhaps? I think he needs some polishing, but there's no denying that the man has talent. I definitely think Kimberly should have taken it all, but I also think that Ruben will go on to do big things. Dang, he's not Josh.

He can sing, but he is NOT ALL THAT!!! I think I have said that like at least 3 times over the course of this competition. His voice lacks that UMPH which KIMBERLY had.


No sense crying over spilled milk, Kimberly had a helluva run. Now she can go ahead and do whatever she wants and not be in the spotlight so much. Maybe she can take Lyn's place next season on GIRLFRIENDS.

I agree that he's NOT ALL THAT, but I think he has the potential to be. I'm just happy that he's not the worst. Again, Kimberly was a much better entertainer with a much better range, but alas, she's gone. So, Ruben it is for me. Now if it was Josh or _____ (I can't remember the girl's name, but the one everbody calls goat girl), I wouldn't vote for anybody. But at least I understand how Ruben made it this far and I don't feel like I'm choosing between the lesser of two evils.

*sidebar* Is Lyn really leaving Girlfriends next season?

[sidebar]Umm it was reported in a Celeb Dish thread back in the fall[/sidebar]

BOOOOO
 

I can't believe that K Lo was told to kick rocks either!!
Hmm...reminds me of Tamyra from last year...I smell fraud!!

However...Ruben will be getting my vote. I do think he has talent but I would also have to agree with CT4. But for real, isn't that what television is about anyway? Finding some aspect of the show to get people fired up so they watch week after week?

And honestly I can't see either Ruben or Clay being the "ideal" American Idol. When all this is over with, it's not necessarily going to be about talent. It's going to be about marketability and how well those CD's are going to sell when it drops. I would rather see Clay on Broadway....and I would rather see Ruben deal with another label other than Simon's.

Just another perspective I had...now back to being pissed about K Lo.

IMO, TRENYCE was actually the best PERFORMER. K Lo had the best voice...it had depth and emotion. Trenyce, too, had a great voice, but had a stage presence that outshone everyone else. Ruben just stands on the stage and sweats and occasionally reaches out or taps his belly. Clay has his new little hip shimmy, but other than that, his performance repertoire (sp!) consists of the eye flutter and weird sneer.

No question that both Rube and Clay can sing, but dang...WATCHING them is boring.

I also have no question that if FRENCHIE had not been unceremoniously dumped, she would have been the next American Idol.

Yeah, that's where the BIGGEST travesty took place. She would have blown all three of them out of the water.

Re: BOOOOO
 

Me too!! Me too!!! Me too!!!

From Salon.com
 

Talking about Big "Uuben" & Co. as part of reality TV. Written before K-Lo was chased, however:

Copyright 2003 Salon.com, Inc.
Salon.com

May 14, 2003 Wednesday

SECTION: Feature

LENGTH: 1555 words

HEADLINE: White supremacy

BYLINE: By Bomani Jones

HIGHLIGHT:
Blacks have a better chance surviving a slasher movie than making it to the end of a reality TV show.

BODY:
Last year we witnessed the remarkable ouster of Tamyra Gray from "American Idol," which left the far less talented Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini to vie for the show's top prize (and the honor of being financially screwed by the show's producers). Many were stunned when Tamyra, and her multi-octave range and vulnerable delivery, waved a tearful goodbye. Many will be equally devastated tonight if the extravagantly talented Ruben Studdard gets cast off by America, too.

But they shouldn't be surprised.For one thing, anyone stunned by what happens on "American Idol" is measuring idolatry by a fairly irrelevant variable -- talent.

Over the past half century, how many teen idols have really been that talented? Elvis Presley, for all his charisma, never wrote a song and had a vocal range of three notes, at best. The '70s brought us Leif Garrett and a TV show centered on Donny Osmond. The '80s brought us Boston's New Kids on the Block, Caucasian clones of another group with nearly the same name. The '90s? Britney, et al. 'Nuff said.

The commonality between all of those idols is that they were cute and white. That's how teen idols tend to look. Talent? There wasn't a New Kid that could hold a vocal candle to New Edition's Ralph Tresvant, but outside the black community, how many can name four of N.E.'s five black members? But while N.E. came and went, New Kids were a brief, but very bright, pop phenomenon -- one managed by New Edition's old manager, coming from the same city as N.E., and essentially a whiter and less talented version of the original. And people were actually surprised that Tamyra got the boot?

Reality TV is holding a mirror to American attitudes on race, and anyone paying attention has to be a little uneasy about what is reflected. On this year's "Mr. Personality," the mandatory mask could not cover one gentleman's black skin color -- and he was the first to get the gate. No black contestants on "The Bachelor" or its clones have come close to a final round. Yes, Vecepia Towery won "Survivor" last year. But most blacks have been voted off quickly. Let's not mince words: Blacks have a better chance surviving a slasher movie than making it to the end of a reality show.

MTV's reality programming has been particularly painful to watch through the years. The first four seasons of the "The Real World" had cliched black roommates; each one had aspirations of being an entertainer. More followed with the same goal. But more often than not, they were characterized by disagreeable (to put it mildly) behavior. Writer Kevin Powell became infamous for his aggressive behavior on the show's first season. The second season saw David Edwards tossed out for pulling castmate Tami Akbar's blanket off -- and getting tossed from the show. There have been house meetings called because New Orleans' David was being an "asshole" and because Hawaii's Teck let his cadlike behavior interfere with his duties on the job. Aneesa (Chicago), Arissa (Las Vegas) and Ayanna (Road Rules, "Semester at Sea") all got into fights, with Ayanna getting booted from a show after whacking a Nordic castmate who used a racial epithet without realizing exactly what he was doing. Edwards made a return engagement in this spring's "Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes," only to completely melt down after a fight with another castmate (the notorious Puck) and to leave the show in ignominy.

MTV's latest? Tonight will feature the heavily promoted episode of "Fraternity Life" in which Stephen -- the lone black pledge among the 12 profiled on both "Fraternity Life" and "Sorority Life" --seemingly goes nuts, vandalizing a fellow pledge's room and earning the loathing of his fellow pledges.

Those shows take place in a vacuum-tight fantasy world. ("The Real World" takes place in a world where no one has to pay rent -- as close to heaven as is attainable on earth.) "American Idol," on the other hand, is as real as these shows can get. Studdard, Clay Aiken and Kimberley Locke have not been "cast" as roommates, for example. They're entertainers competing for a greater share of the market, in prime time, with viewers voting in real time. Like any other budding stars, they have been required to jump through hoops. The quest for a record deal is typically a series of performances for people who may love you or hate you, all dependent on their predispositions. And you are required to give a damn about what they think.

No matter what mathematics may say -- that the odds are against one white competitor facing two black competitors -- there is a fantastic likelihood that Clay Aiken, talented but intangibly unimpressive, will be crowned American Idol. And the clearly superior Ruben (and nominally superior Kimberley) will get the shaft. The best description of Aiken may have come from Africana.com's J. Danielle Daniels, who dubbed him "technically perfect, emotionally empty." Accurate as that description may be, it's curious that such a statement would fit a man who states on the "American Idol" Web site that the last concert he attended was James Taylor's, and his favorite song is "Unchained Melody." None of the simply expressed yet poignant emotional resonance of Taylor's work is present from Aiken, who seems as free and comfortable moving onstage as a man playing the guitar tied to a chair.

Aiken had a hard time squeezing fun out of "Build Me Up Buttercup." Comparing the feeling in his rendition Tuesday night of "Unchained Melody" to the Righteous Brothers' classic is a task I won't dare undertake, and I can't begin to think of Aiken and Al Green's definitive cover of the song at the same time. But not to call him the odds-on favorite of this competition would make you a fool.

Just keep in mind last year. No matter how much Ruben sounds like a young Luther Vandross, his time is probably up. Incomprehensibly, he's already been in the bottom two of the voting. (Perhaps that was punishment for his bizarre decision to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" on country-rock night? Let's just hope Ruben doesn't really think the folks in Alabama "all did what they could do" about George Wallace.) The comparison to Vandross easily starts with his size -- reminiscent of Luther in the early '80s -- but the similarity runs deeper. Vandross was able to evoke a sweetness in his voice rarely heard in misery-laden R&B. Each note Luther sang rang with a sense of optimism, a rare and beautiful quality that helps set Ruben apart from the "A.I." field, just as it set Luther apart from every other singer of the past 20-plus years.

But there's a strong possibility that Wednesday could be his last night on the "American Idol" stage. Should that happen, deja vu could set in with those who followed the show in both seasons. In fact, the racial demographics of the final three contestants could be the same. Kimberley Locke is biracial, making this is the same scenario from which Clarkson emerged last year. And Locke, who got back in Simon's good graces by relaxing her hair -- a suggestion that is curious at best and offensive at worst -- is not likely to win (like Justin Guarini before h! er), because of her inability to milk any passion out of the songs she sings.

This is where the human measurement comes into play. Those voting on the idol are future fans. And considering all the research done on the digital divide, there's little doubt who's stuffing the online ballot boxes. So it's not a stretch to predict Aiken will be the winner before he sings another note. That is a function of "A.I." reality. Would white teenagers have preferred to hear and see Elvis Presley or Jackie Wilson? Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard? New Kids or New Edition? A young John Lennon or Chuck Berry? History has shown us that the white star was preferred in each scenario. Yes, there's been some teen-idol exceptions -- Michael Jackson, Beyonce Knowles and Lil' Bow Wow come to mind. But on a show as realistic as "American Idol," there's no reason to expect any difference.

That's not insidious in the way the precast reality shows are,! where casting directors appear to follow a template, looking for people to fit certain roles, with "angry young black man" a perennial favorite. There's something strangely alluring about these contraptions, reality as conceived by television producers (and we all know how grounded they are) that pose interesting "what if" scenarios and allowing the world to watch them play out. They're experiments in human psychology, both for the "cast members" and viewers. Cast members are willing guinea pigs, thrust into situations that are typically different from their own lives. And viewers are prodded along by shows that tap into their predispositions and prejudices on a number of topics, including, invariably, race.

But all these shows help cement a perception of who would make a better pop idol, husband, even who would make a better roommate. And the actions on both sides of the tube indicate a grim reality, a country that still submits to its most viscera! l reactions more often than it would care to admit.

"American Idol" is no different. History gives me a hunch that Clay Aiken will soon be a millionaire with a recording contract. If for some reason if he's not, it wouldn't just be an upset. It would be unreal.

Playing devil's advocate.

MOST of our stars/entertainers were "groomed" before they began. So that stage presence we see today wasn't always there. Whoever wins will be groomed as well.

Former AIers last night: That chick Tamyra did well with her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Did they re-arrange the verses or something? :confused:
Justin: ummmmm, he's aight! He kind of irks me. Is his middle name Guiarini (sp?) or what?

IMO, with AI and other shows like it, as long as you have the exposure and it's HIS will for you to shine, you will.

I'm sure K.Lo will do well, just like Frenchie and Tamyra have.

Re: From Salon.com
 

Yeah, I can agree with what was written in the article. I think I am going to go back and watch Spanish telenovelas. I really don't know what everyone is saying, but it is alot more entertaining and everyone on the novela looks good. One novela is 'Protagonistas de Novela'. Its about a bunch of 20-somethings living in a house a la' Big Brother and they are competing for a spot on an upcomming novela. Since I have no direct ties to the Spanish community watching these shows is a lot less stressful.

Re: Re: From Salon.com
 

I remember reading about a Big Brother-esque TV show in Mexico in the Wall Street Journal. One of the themes that came up was that there was no drama because of the fact that poor Mexicans were very deferential and wouldn't challenge richer ones when they were acting up.

that was an interesting and insightful article, but once again, I must disagree that Ruben is clearly superior. IMO, he is not better than Kim or Clay or even Rickey for that matter. (Oh and it really did irk me that Simon was always criticizing Kim when she had the curly hair)

Odd Jim Rome comment about AI
 

I just heard this on sports talk radio host Jim Rome's show. A listener just sent an e-mail referencing Big Ruben. He said that injured, disappointing New York Met baseball slugger Mo Vaughn, who's been AWOL, "can be found in the American Idol finals." D-oh! :eek:

ME TOO! In the synopsis of Kim's time on the show they showed last night, I thought her curls looked so much better than it straightened...

But, I have naturally curly hair, so... ;)