American Idol: Its Time to Take Elliott Yamin Seriously
By Shirley Kennedy
May 9, 2006 <snip>
Following the year that Ruben Studdard won the title, conspiracy theories and claims of rigging could be found just about anywhere on the Internet. I chose not to buy into such talk, as I found the very thought ridiculous. Now, however, I am starting to change my mind, given the behavior of Idols executive producer and Simons apparent psychic abilities of predicting who will win and why. If Elliott Yamin is eliminated next Wednesday, I will be a full-fledged believer in rigging and conspiracy theories at this show. After all, Simon has predicted it to be so.
In the final analysis, AI needs to check itself. Their treatment of Elliott Yamin this year is an embarrassment. I thought they treated Clay Aikenwho went on to outsell AIs winnerbadly, but compared to the shows treatment of Elliott this year, they treated Clay like a king. My hope and prayer is that Elliott lands in the right hands, and when he outsells the AI cookie-cutter winner this year, AIs executive producer will take a step back and look at his, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowells behavior and how that behavior affects others. Its one thing to make money; its another to purposely hurt people to make money. Shame on all of them. My further hope and prayer is that talented singers such as Elliott Yamin, Mandisa Hundley, and Paris Bennett find a better, more fair outlet for their talent, and I can, once again, enjoy seeing new talent discovered on television.
NATIONAL LEDGER