For your central Jersey real estate needs: JudyNJHomes.com
Catch Kat in The House Bunny in theaters nationwide NOW! fandango.com
To pick up on my question of ‘What does Kat have to do to increase her demographic appeal…’ I’ve given it more thought to try to identify what I think is missing, and how Kat could improve her appeal.
It’s weird…. Kat’s the contestant I like the most, but feel I know the least about. I think she has to open up more and let America, and the world, see more of who she is.
When I think of the individual ‘stories’ of each contestant that have been built up on the show, I get a certain picture of who they are, where they come from, what they been through etc. The kinds of things that stuck in my mind about them - and my deliberately rambling impressions of the top 4 would be:
Kat - young, smart; sweet, gorgeous, charming; polite, refined, genuine, great voice; incredibly versatile; captivating stage and performance presence; has done some work in musicals; stable and loving family background; vocally trained by her Mom who’s an accomplished cabaret performer and vocal coach; ultimately seems capable of doing Broadway; movies; T.V.; music career; she’s got it all.
Taylor - grey hair; young spirit; old soul; modest upbringing; wholesome southern gentleman; he’s unconventional; unpretentious; uncontrived; uninhibited; great/unique voice; so engrossed in the passion for his music that he doesn’t care how he looks when he performs (dances?); has been a performing musician for a while; made a CD, sings a great version of ‘Georgia’,
Chris - good vocal talent; serious/darker nature; dreams of making it in the music biz; marries his girlfriend who had two kids; gives up his music dream to work hard at a service job to support family; wife cries as she tells of him giving up his dream and loving her children as if they were his own; no formal vocal training; played in a band; NC southern roots;
Kellie – attractive; naïve, sweet, big heart; mom left/died?; dad’s in jail; very modest financial circumstances; no formal vocal training; grandpa raised her and cries every time her talks about her; she loves her dog and baby brother; small southern town pulling for her; she impresses more by her pleasant/quirky disposition and courage than by her vocal ability; (people can say what they want about the legitimacy of her naivety or intelligence, but I believe that anyone who can proudly announce to over 30 million viewers that she is holding ‘…the community snot rag…’ is special…one way or another!)
So when I look at the ‘stories’ of the contestants I see (or remember) more flaws, frailty, struggle, adversity, or a deeper personal touch in the other 3 ‘stories’ than I do in Kat’s. So that could be one element that’s preventing a wider demographic acceptance – people identify, connect and sympathize with humane elements in a person’s life (happy, sad, funny, whatever). The other 3 contestants seem more inclined to share that side of themselves, and I think it impacts voters.
For example, from a strictly vocal perspective, there’s no way Kellie should outlast Paris or Elliott on the show, since both have superior vocal ability…but I think she will outlast them, partly because of her physical appearance and partly because she has been successful at establishing more of a ‘human element’ connection with the viewers/voters by virtue of her openness (sometimes to excess) on the show. The AI contest is not just about vocal ability; it also entails a number of intangibles that influence voters.
As the show progresses, the margin of votes that determine elimination and/or ultimate victory will get smaller and smaller (Rubin Studdard won by less than 140,000 votes a few years ago). So, while a stellar vocal performance and song selection will continue to be the most important factors, the intangible of connecting to the voters will also be increasingly important since one would expect that, when it comes down to the final 4, all the contestants should be capable of delivering a solid performance - the ‘wheat having been separated the from the chaff’; and Kellie seems to keep proving, it’s not just about having the best vocals.
Obviously, Kat already connects to millions of fans through the many attributes I mentioned earlier, and she may choose or prefer not to be more open, and that’s her right too, but I think it gives the other contestants an advantage if she doesn’t open up more, especially since she is so wonderful and I think it would draw more voters to her. She doesn’t have to try to match or outdo the ‘stories’ of the others, just let the viewers get to know her better on a personal level.
Part of Kat opening up more can be achieved through selecting a few more upbeat songs that allow her to break out of her ‘Broadway niche’ and just ‘let it all out’. As well, I don’t know how much of the show is scripted for them (pre-performance discussion of their songs, in-depth look at their families, banter with Ryan Seacrest etc.) but if the contestants have some latitude in what they say, it would be nice if Kat could use those types of opportunities give viewers more insight into ‘what makes her tick’.
I believe she can win.
If Simon actually said that, it is reprehensible and completely unfair…but did he actually say ‘Kat won’t win..’
It is one thing to say something negative about a contestant in the auditions, and maybe during the early eliminations (‘Kevin Covais – you’re not going to win…’), but to say something like that to an acknowledged favorite, at this stage of the competition – especially given that he is a judge on the show (and unquestionably in a position to influence voters) - is just wrong.
We are down to the final 7 and Simon comes out now and says to a contestant ‘You won’t win…’??!! That’s such a conflict of interest….how would it be if the host of the Miss America pageant said, on national T.V., to a contestant in the final group of 7 during the televised competition… ‘You’re hips are too wide…you will not win…” sure, the host can say ‘’That’s just my opinion…and I don’t vote…other people make the decision…’ but it does have an effect on the contestants confidence and does have an affect on the voters/judges to some degree (tell me they won’t revaluate her hips…?!.)
And how is Kat supposed to react…especially when that snake Seacrest sticks a microphone in her face and gets that goofy grin on and says ‘So Kat…Simon has told millions of viewers that you won’t win…how do you feel about that?...Are you really as superficial as Simon thinks?…What are you going to do when you get kicked off the show?…”
I heard that Simon predicted a while ago that Chris, Taylor and Kellie would make the top three…that was inappropriate too, but at least long enough ago that it could be taken as more of a speculative guess.
I may be cynical, but I worry that Simon is so egotistical that he is trying to implement his ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ in his Chris, Taylor, Kellie prediction. When he made the prediction about Kellie, it just seemed absurd and impossible that she would end up in the top 3. Simon might make himself right.
But the worst part is – as much as I think he is a weasle – Simon may be at least partially right. I’ve been feeling for a while that Kat has to be more conscious about her demographic appeal, and needs do something that breaks down the walls around her that prevent people from connecting with her.
The biggest fear I now have is: how does Kat respond to the issue….if she changes now, people will say she is ‘not real’ bla…bal…bal
Again I don’t really know what she should do…but I think she should attack it ‘straight on’ like she did when Simon gave an interview and couldn’t remember Kat’s name; or better still, the way Seacrest addressed Kellie’s ‘stupidity act’.
If the AI producers have any sense of fairness (not sure they do) they should give Kat the same opportunity they gave Kellie to respond to false rumors.
I don't believe the competition 'is over' for Kat..but I also don't think the issue can be resloved just by genertaing more Kat Calls from current Kat supporters....it a deeper rooted 'image' issue that cuts a pretty wide demographic path, and it must be dealt with.
On the upside, other contestants have made changes to their approach/image and Kat still has time to do 'damage control' - Kat just needs strategic advice on how to deal with this issue diplomatically and intelligently…
Noni, yes unfortunately, I believe the chart at http://www.zabasearch.com/ai_stats.php showing Kelli with 2X the votes as our Katharine is legit. (And in case anyone is wondering, I'm sure the Extra interview of Simon is also legit -- anyone can see/hear it for themselves at..... http://progressive.stream.aol.com/wb/gl/wbonline/extra/2005/extra/cowell0414_dl.mov ).
While I admire the goal of this thread to help Katharine by advising her directly, I genuinely believe the most productive thing any of us as fans can do is to recruit as many other 'Mcphans' as possible who are willing to vote, using multiple phones when possible, to rapidly RE-dial for a solid 2+ hrs every Tues nite. In my judgement as a telecommunications engineer, all of the text voting & automated techniques will account for only a small percenatge of the vote totals, so our best response to this negative information is to increase the numbers of fans we can rally for Katharine who are willing to vote massively for her.
Yes, reverse psychology could actually help Katharine win -- IF IT MOTIVATES ENOUGH MCPHANS TO GET OFF OUR BUTTS & GET THE VOTES OUT FOR HER!!!
I just watched the video...thanks for the link...and although Simon said "She's (Kat’s) reaching a point where she's looking so perfect and sounding so perfect. Ironically, it can work against you," yes, he also did say "She won't win.".
For what it's worth he also slammed Taylor for his weird dancing and said that Ace’s ‘day‘s are numbered….and said his sentimental favorite is Paris (but didn’t say she would win). In the same interview Simon said that Ryan and Paula owe him big time for making their careers.