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HELLA_TIGHT
Madge the Smoking Vag


Registered: 08/19/03
Posts: 84,387
Loc: Afghanistan
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Just me... or is this weird?
#5674628 - 05/25/06 08:56 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/26/widol26.xml
US pop show victor attracts more votes than any president By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 26/05/2006)
The most popular talent contest in America, if not the world, has crowned its latest victor after polling a record 63.4 million votes.
The host of American Idol, Ryan Seacrest, announced in considerable excitement that the figure was "more than any president in the history of our country has received". Taylor Hicks performs with Toni Braxton The winner, Taylor Hicks, performs with Toni Braxton
The show's phenomenal success has prompted many comparisons with the country's declining political participation.
The final of its fifth series drew its largest television audience to date, almost on a par with the Oscars, and underscored the phenomenal success of the British import, now a multi-billion dollar franchise and popular culture behemoth.
The latest idol is a prematurely grey, chubby-faced 29-year-old singer from Alabama whose husky-voiced soul numbers and quirky dance moves won him an army of fans.
Taylor Hicks beat Katharine McPhee, 22, whose sultry good looks and pitch-perfect performances convinced many that she had clinched the title.
If the experience of previous idol winners and runners-up is any indication, both are destined for great wealth, chart domination and consideration for coveted music awards such as the Grammy's.
To date, winners and finalists have sold more than 33 million records.
Early on, Hicks had been derided by the show's caustic British judge, Simon Cowell, as like "drunken father singing at a wedding".
The once sneered-at amateur singing competition has galvanised the US population more than any other and rivals the fervour that accompanies presidential elections. Simon Cowell Simon Cowell criticised the winner's singing
An audience of 3,400 packed the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, where the Academy Awards are held, for the final which featured celebrities such as Ben Stiller, Heather Locklear and David Hasselhoff, who was in tears by the end.
On stage, Meat Loaf, Mary J Blige, Toni Braxton, Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick performed with the 12 finalists. Reclusive Prince even gave a surprise performance. The series has given big boosts to the album sales of pop stars who have appeared on it.
America's most watched television programme drew an average of 30 million viewers a week and is modelled on Pop Idol, created by the British music mogul Simon Fuller.
But in America it has prompted some commentators to reflect on what lessons politics can learn from the frenzied excitement and personal attachment evident in Idol voters.
The Hollywood satire American Dreamz showed a president reviving his fading popularity by appearing as a guest judge on an American Idol-style talent show.
"It is getting to the point where the series has become a conduit for displaced political passion," writes Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times. "It is an arena where young people feel that their vote counts.
"Idol may strike some of its fans as more genuinely democratic than the real democratic process. The popular vote carries the day without any interference from an electoral college.
"The judges give their assessments in their idiosyncratic ways, but cannot override the popular vote."
More than 63.4 million votes were cast by phone or text message but the breakdown was not disclosed. Viewers can vote as many times as they like.
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d

Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#5674644 - 05/25/06 09:00 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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It's weird, but not surprising really.
-------------------- Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.
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Snaggletooth
Stranger in a Strange Land


Registered: 10/24/05
Posts: 6,109
Loc: blinks stupidly
Last seen: 6 years, 9 months
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#5674656 - 05/25/06 09:03 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Yeah it weird but it's you too 
I did not know there were 63.4 million complete idiots!!
I need to move to a deserted island
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Atheist Chat
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TheCow
Stranger

Registered: 10/28/02
Posts: 4,790
Last seen: 15 years, 7 months
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: Snaggletooth]
#5674666 - 05/25/06 09:06 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Cant you vote more then once?
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kosmic_charlie
Truckin' in style


Registered: 03/18/01
Posts: 5,203
Loc: Deep Elem
Last seen: 1 month, 14 days
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: Snaggletooth]
#5674667 - 05/25/06 09:06 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Viewers can vote as many times as they like.
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Goin' where the water tastes like wine.
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TheCow
Stranger

Registered: 10/28/02
Posts: 4,790
Last seen: 15 years, 7 months
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d

Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: TheCow]
#5674685 - 05/25/06 09:09 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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My guess would be that it's easier to vote for AI than it is for the presidency. You don't have to go to the polls and actually make an educated decision.
-------------------- Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.
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Krishna
कृष्ण,LOL


Registered: 05/08/03
Posts: 23,285
Loc: oakland
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#5674695 - 05/25/06 09:11 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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you are just weird.
weirdo. :imakeyousuckonmydicktheninutinyoureye/krazyeyeskillah:
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Schwip
Never sleeps.


Registered: 06/27/05
Posts: 3,937
Last seen: 11 years, 2 months
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Quote:
McKennaDMT said: My guess would be that it's easier to vote for AI than it is for the presidency. You don't have to go to the polls and actually make an educated decision.
im sure the lazy factor does have alot to do with it
-------------------- -------------------------------- " If the sky were to suddenly open up there would be no law. There would be no rule. There would only be you and your memories... the choices you've made, and the people you've touched. If this world were to end there would only be you and him and no-one else. " .............. "MAN! You know there aint no such thing as left over crack!"
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king_cobra
Stranger


Registered: 02/27/05
Posts: 2,752
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Quote:
McKennaDMT said: make an educated decision.
yeah, fuck that.
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HELLA_TIGHT
Madge the Smoking Vag


Registered: 08/19/03
Posts: 84,387
Loc: Afghanistan
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: Krishna]
#5674792 - 05/25/06 09:42 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
Krishna said: you are just weird.
weirdo. :imakeyousuckonmydicktheninutinyoureye/krazyeyeskillah:

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Krishna
कृष्ण,LOL


Registered: 05/08/03
Posts: 23,285
Loc: oakland
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#5674802 - 05/25/06 09:44 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Quote:
HELLA_TIGHT said: i'm a weirdo, LOL!
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HELLA_TIGHT
Madge the Smoking Vag


Registered: 08/19/03
Posts: 84,387
Loc: Afghanistan
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: Krishna]
#5674837 - 05/25/06 09:53 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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u maed me sad
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Krishna
कृष्ण,LOL


Registered: 05/08/03
Posts: 23,285
Loc: oakland
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#5674869 - 05/25/06 10:01 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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sorry, mister. but you've got teh aides (like personal assistants) and it freaks me right out.
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides

Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Just me... or is this weird? [Re: HELLA_TIGHT]
#5674883 - 05/25/06 10:03 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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Not weird, just sorta sad.
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