Tamyra Gray eliminated!

August 21, 2002 7:08 PM

Tamyra Gray eliminated! Wow, what an upset. I'm embarrassed to admin that I watch this show, but I do watch it. You should have seen the look on the judges faces when she was voted off - total shock. Word on the street is, people are using software to war-dial the voting system and vote for Nikki McKibbin. Is this Fox's fault for not securing their voting system, or is it just part of today's new Internet paradigm?
posted by Maxor (53 comments total)

For those of us reading along, what's "this show?"
posted by majick at 7:14 PM on August 21, 2002

Um, before somebody flames me...
admin=admit
"this show" = "American Idol"
posted by Maxor at 7:14 PM on August 21, 2002

Sorry bout that
posted by Maxor at 7:14 PM on August 21, 2002

Um, before somebody flames me...
admin=admit
"this show" = "American Idol'

Naaah, I think people on the west coast will flame you for giving away the ending of tonight's show.
posted by Dinzie at 7:20 PM on August 21, 2002

Interesting that they're fingering phone phreaks with access to PBXes. That could be a job-endangering hobby, real quick.

Beyond excising calls from vast blocks of numbers, what can they do to "secure" it?
posted by dhartung at 7:21 PM on August 21, 2002

Um, who could possibly care about a TV show on the FOX network called American Idol? I heard about this yesterday and I'm amazed at the crap being hoisted upon the public as entertainment. Try reading a book sometime. Or masturbating. You'll find these endeavors are much more rewarding.
posted by MaddCutty at 7:22 PM on August 21, 2002

Good thing I can't stand this show. It doesn't air in Honolulu for another five hours.
posted by pzarquon at 7:22 PM on August 21, 2002

Ponders why they show a west coast show live on the east coast then gives the west coast the delayed telecast...

I meant Dennis Miller Live, of course. :p
posted by linux at 7:22 PM on August 21, 2002

Well, they could require you to push a button, "1" for instance, but only after listening to a 10 second recording or something. That would give everyone an equal chance at the redial button.

And I'm really sorry, I didn't realize that the show was tape-delayed in the West. My apologies.
posted by Maxor at 7:24 PM on August 21, 2002

MaddCutty, whether or not you care about the show, there is the potential for an interesting conversation here. War-dialing is an old trick that isn't much used anymore, but this is a new twist on it. I don't care about the show either, but I wonder if FOX cares if the voting is fair or who wins.

Also, Justin better win. Ahem.
posted by Grod at 7:30 PM on August 21, 2002

That Simon guy is hysterical!! very bitchy...
and it kept Paula Abdul from having to do Celebrity Boxing : >

(re: the west coast thing--I think most people's favs have already been voted off)
posted by amberglow at 7:32 PM on August 21, 2002

Tamyra just didn't shine last night and you're good as your last song...

Anyway, Kelly's going all the way. :) I had Justin when it was 30, but he's not lived up to what I saw earlier on.

What I want is a tape of all the losers from the auditions. That's entertainment!
posted by jbunch at 7:35 PM on August 21, 2002

...there is the potential for an interesting conversation here. War-dialing is an old trick that isn't much used anymore, but this is a new twist on it.

Yeah MaddCutty...can you war-dial with one hand as well as you type?
posted by Dinzie at 7:36 PM on August 21, 2002

interesting cnn story on the speed dialing
posted by amberglow at 7:36 PM on August 21, 2002

If only Wil Wheaton was in the competition...
posted by Stuart_R at 7:46 PM on August 21, 2002

Remember last time a major tv network let the public choose a "star"? Two Words: Jesse Camp. After his contract year was up, he was shuffled off, while the runner up [Dave Holmes ??] is still a veejay.

There is a reason that we are a democratic republic, after all.
posted by plemeljr at 7:55 PM on August 21, 2002

Try reading a book sometime. Or masturbating.
i prefer masturbating while watching kelly mckibben on american idol, however, a fool could see tamyra was THE SINGER of the two and shouldn't have gone down.
posted by quonsar at 8:07 PM on August 21, 2002

the tubes, i mean.
posted by quonsar at 8:07 PM on August 21, 2002

I don't care about the show either, but I wonder if FOX cares if the voting is fair or who wins.

FOX certainly cares about something. One of the contestants voted off early in the game, Jim Verraros, had a Livejournal (Google cache of the only entry I could find) and had no problem discussing his homosexuality. The Advocate reports that they were unsuccessful in getting an interview with him, and the journal is now deleted.

(this is apparently old news, but new to me.)
posted by gummi at 8:08 PM on August 21, 2002

Um, who could possibly care about a TV show on the FOX network called American Idol? I heard about this yesterday and I'm amazed at the crap being hoisted upon the public as entertainment.

Blame the British. We steal all that crap from them.

:D
posted by linux at 8:12 PM on August 21, 2002

gummi, I wouldn't put anything past Fox, but I heard he wasn't that good (I missed that one)

It's funny--given that the Pop Idol guy came out, but he only came out after he won...and Britain has gay members of boybands (Steps and Westlife i think)
posted by amberglow at 8:20 PM on August 21, 2002

quonsar: kelly mckibben?

You mean Nikki McKibbin? Or Kelly Clarkson?

I've only watched the show for two weeks and it's become my life's goal to see that smarmy, crotch-grabbing, singing mop go down. He belongs in a Disney movie.
posted by ligeia at 8:23 PM on August 21, 2002

Try reading a book sometime. Or masturbating

*Gasp* Some of us actually do all three.
posted by btwillig at 8:24 PM on August 21, 2002

Oh I completely agree, amberglow...he wasn't as good as the others. I just found the journal and the disappearing of the journal after the interview request rather interesting.
posted by gummi at 8:29 PM on August 21, 2002

You mean Nikki McKibbin? Or Kelly Clarkson?
yes.
posted by quonsar at 8:33 PM on August 21, 2002

It is gummi--thanks for the link (and those comments--ucch!)
posted by amberglow at 8:33 PM on August 21, 2002

*Gasp* Some of us actually do all three.

You can count me in on that group. Not all TV is horrendous and vacuous, just most of it.
posted by MaddCutty at 8:33 PM on August 21, 2002

There are some of us who have, for better or worse, been sucked into this show. Thanks for nothing, Maxor. What kind of ******* does this to us poor folks on the West Coast who have not yet seen the show.

I figured this would be a "safe" site until 10pm tonight...

Not that I am mad at the choice. Go Kelly! And Justin should be killed for f'in up a perfectly good song like "Get Here."

Maxor, you also lose points for using the word paradigm. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go masturbate.
posted by sciatica at 8:33 PM on August 21, 2002

*showers entire thread in holy water*

*watches thread burst into flame*
posted by jonmc at 8:38 PM on August 21, 2002

*Gasp* Some of us actually do all three.

At the same time? You could get on TV with that kinda talent.
posted by goethean at 8:44 PM on August 21, 2002

How much you want to bet that if they do a second edition of American Idol that the numbers will be 1-900 numbers? I doubt the power dialers will want to keep paying out 99 cents for each call.
posted by jasonbondshow at 8:49 PM on August 21, 2002

I think they should have a show called "Golden Idol" where contestants worship various statuary until the Lord gets pissed off and smites them with fire or plagues of wallabies, or something.

I'd watch that.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:58 PM on August 21, 2002

I don't understand why Idol couldn't have limited phone voting by phone numbers. Each phone number can cast one vote each week. It's not terribly difficult, it seems.

I've had a long-standing crush on Kelly. There are mp3s floating around of her AI performance of "Stuff Like That There." Fantastic!

Oh, and please don't tell my friends and family I follow the show. Thanks.
posted by jennak at 9:36 PM on August 21, 2002

crash: that made the trip worthwhile... to think i almost logged off and went to bed...
posted by Ynoxas at 9:38 PM on August 21, 2002

I do not have much to post beyond saying that Justin could play Sideshow Bob in a heartbeat in a live action Simpsons movie.
posted by thirteen at 9:45 PM on August 21, 2002

Dammit, I had not seen the Trackback entry when I posted that, Apparently it is not an original observation.
posted by thirteen at 9:47 PM on August 21, 2002

My Niece called me tonight and told me her neighbor Jason had won Big Brother 3; I'm not supposed to tell, but I just had to share. CAUTION! SPOILER!!
posted by Mack Twain at 10:24 PM on August 21, 2002

I bloody love American Idol. Also, Justin. He's sexy.
posted by animoller at 10:30 PM on August 21, 2002

My wife is completely sucked into this thing and has had me watching it for the past few weeks.

Thats unfortunate about Ms Gray, IMO she was the only one of the finalists with both the talent and the stage presence to actually have a chance of doing something beyond this glorified Star Search in the next few years.

That dude with all the hair belongs in a boy band. Even I want to run my fingers through his hair and I'm pretty hetero. Images of him as Sideshow Bob make me happy.

Nikki is out of her league but she's got the chutzpah to do something with the right band behind her.

Kelly is fantastic but doesn't have enough stage presence to be a star yet. Could she spend a few years as a backup singer and learn enough to take the stage on her own? (ala Sheryl Crow)

RJ was OK but he didn't really impress me in the little I saw of him.

Rumor has it that they are planning a American Idol 2 without Simon. That would suck, as his honest comments somewhat redeem an otherwise worthless show.
posted by mutagen at 10:34 PM on August 21, 2002

For those of you that want to hear some "Stuff Like That There" (Kelly) and "Feel the Fire" (Tamyra), this site has all the songs from the show.
posted by dness2 at 10:44 PM on August 21, 2002

Thats unfortunate about Ms Gray, IMO she was the only one of the finalists with both the talent and the stage presence to actually have a chance of doing something beyond this glorified Star Search in the next few years.

Everyone seems to treat this as 'america's best voice' contest.

Look around us. Britney, Pink, Madonna, none of them have the vocal talent of Ms Gray, or Justin, or Kelly. Obviously, vocal talent is not an accurate measure of their future success.
posted by justgary at 10:45 PM on August 21, 2002

Great googoly moogely! What a freaking tragedy! No seriously , I'm gonna hide under my couch until Junior fixes this horrible situation.

Curious though, is there a point here where I or anyone should care about this?

Just wondering.
posted by damnitkage at 11:01 PM on August 21, 2002

For my part, I have been watching this show. Kelly I think has the stuff. She constantly sings excellent, and her pitch is great. Nikki and Tamyra are not even in her league. Last week when they did that group sing along, I was holding my ears because one of the girls was singing about a quarter step off pitch.

I think Justin really can't do it vocally. The students that I teach, the girls, all think he is totally cute. That is why he has been in for as long as he has. Nikki. Well, she has good and bad performances. But she is doing her own thing. You have to admire that in the music business. Do we need another clone or do we want something fresh. Nikki is fresh. But she can't hold it vocally to Kelly.

I tried for 30 minutes last night to vote for Kelly. Busy signals the whole time. Finally got through at 10:45.

I was thinking Nikki was going to go this week, but Tamyra was possible. I think in the end it's going to be Justin and Kelly. And that is where hopefully the kids (the main audience) will focus on who is actually better. And Kelly is better.
posted by ericdano at 11:07 PM on August 21, 2002

I love me some nikki, but she's about as rebel as Pink is punk, and that ain't much.
posted by justgary at 11:09 PM on August 21, 2002

Curious though, is there a point here where I or anyone should care about this?

nobody's asking you to care, but clearly a large group of people here do. whether or not anyone "should" care about this is pretty subjective. what are we supposed to be caring about?
posted by chrisege at 11:22 PM on August 21, 2002

Personally, I thought that Tamyra was the worst performer this week... put the LaBelle down and back away slowly!!! But then again, I grade very harshly and a horrible performance puts you at the bottom of the heap.

Sorry, Tamyra, but you're better off not winning this anyway.
posted by Pinwiz at 5:24 AM on August 22, 2002

They ran 2 seasons of a show called "Pop Stars" in Canada, where they selected members for new all vocal groups.

I think it was 99 cents per call / vote, so I was a little surprised to hear that the American version went with free calls. Of course, I can't imagine spending several dollars to call and vote for someone you have very little likelihood of ever buying a CD from...
posted by Stuart_R at 5:54 AM on August 22, 2002

The entire competition was moot once this delectable dish was eliminated (WTF were you thinking America?)
posted by owillis at 6:22 AM on August 22, 2002

I especially love the way that after someone is voted off they are made to sing. Wicked.

And when does the Girls of American Idol Playboy hit the stands?
posted by geekyguy at 7:32 AM on August 22, 2002

Not to nitpick, but War dialing refers to dialing large blocks of numbers, seeing who or what will pick up.

In this context, they're just using powerdialers to flood the lines. I remember an expose about "ticket agents" (read: scalpers) using similar devices or software to get through to Ticketmaster on to get tix to hot shows.
posted by dr_dank at 10:08 AM on August 22, 2002

Remember last time a major tv network let the public choose a "star"? Two Words: Jesse Camp. After his contract year was up, he was shuffled off, while the runner up [Dave Holmes ??] is still a veejay.

My boyfriend (who works in the music industry) has a theory about American Idol that's along this same train of thought. He's convinced that the person who is actually chosen as THEE American Idol will be seen as a novelty act and weighed down by O-Town-esque stigma. His theory is that the rejected finalists will have a better chance at "real" (it's all relative) careers than the winners.
posted by arielmeadow at 10:11 AM on August 22, 2002

I think it was 99 cents per call / vote, so I was a little surprised to hear that the American version went with free calls.
With the exchange rate, that is a free call.
posted by thirteen at 10:22 AM on August 22, 2002

I've never seen this show; the only thing I know about it is Tamyra Gray hails from Takoma Park, a neighborhood near where I live. So I was kind of rooting for her even though I've never seen her perform.

But now she's out! Ah well..so much for that..
posted by puffin at 1:58 PM on August 22, 2002