For your central Jersey real estate needs: JudyNJHomes.com
Unfortunately I think we just live in a cyncial society. It's a "How can anyone be so perfect?" kind of cynicism. Kat's beautiful (unbelieveably so) and sweet, humble, funny. She's the girl next door with the 'perfect family'. I think that for whatever reason people want to believe the absolute worst about her, even though it's pretty clear to anyone who pays attention that she really is as sweet and real as she appears. Kind of sad.
And how can anyone not love the fact that Kat's dad cries every time she sings. So sweet.
I agree, it’s almost like they have to manufacture deficiencies in Kat in order to reconcile in their own minds that, by comparison, their favorite is as good or better than Kat…I consider myself a fairly objective person…and, based on my impressions of Kat, I just can’t see how people conjure up all these twisted opinions about what she’s like….I don’t personally know her…probably will never meet her…and base my opinions solely on what I’ve seen of her and a general understanding of human nature…but from all I’ve observed, she’s just a sweet, beautiful, talented, nice young girl….sounds like American Idol qualities to me….or maybe I’ve just been totally blinded by a bad case of McPheever….either way...it works for me.
It does seem somewhat absurd that Kat has to endure negative feedback for essentially doing nothing more than having the good fortune of being raised in a seemingly well adjusted and happy family unit….I didn’t say ‘normal’ family because statistically that probably isn’t the ‘norm’ any more…but you’re right…it is real…non-fiction, and attainable… and people tend to forget the amount of work, love and courage it takes to keep a family together…and I guess depending on what kind of person you are, seeing a solid family unit like that either evokes hope or envy in you…glad to see you’re HOPEful…
In terms of Kat’s demographic appeal, I agree with you that her family is a strong point, certainly in her life, and potentially for many others watching the show…I almost wish Kat would address the ‘perfect issue’ and come out and tell the world in her own sweet way that she won’t hide, or apologize for, her good fortune or the way her family is….that they have their problems too, but they work things out… she has worked hard to get to where she is, etc….because she has as much right to be happy and respected as anyone on the show…and her family seems like the type that would gladly lend a hand to someone in need….I’d feel different about Kat if she was a precocious person, but she isn’t…
I 'cut and pasted' this comment from another thread since it seemed relevant to ehancing Kat's demographic efforts...***Posted By winnpoober on 04/21/2006 12:25 AMOne of the piercing comments that I read about Kat is that everyone already knows that she can sing and ballads are her forte. What they said to continue that sentence is this: Show us something else. I don't agree with them but that is the comment.I think that this week is crucial for Kat to continue with her momentum but if she chooses another ballad, the critics will continue to say what they've said before and there goes the new fans. I believe that whatever song she chooses to sing she will do good. If it is another ballad, she will be criticized even if she blows them away. However, Kat does not have too much choice. Love songs predominantly are ballads. So, let's all prepare ourselves. I am praying for the best for Katharine. I believe in her talent and hope that we could all pull her ahead of Taylor and Kellie. Posted by Idoleyes..
I agree that she must show another dimension to her capabilities…..she will continue to nail every ballad she attempts…and those fans that appreciate her vocal ability on the ballads will remain solid supporters…but until she shows more diversity she won’t attract a large faction of the new fans who are waiting to see something more…like you said, this week, it will be difficult to do anything but a ballad, but hopefully the following week will give Kat a chance to break out and pick up the pace, and hopefully a new legion of converted supporters…Kat is not much different from the other (my) top 4… each has a strength in a particular style…but I feel Kat is best positioned to ‘cross-over’ to another styles…much like Chris did…he is ‘rock’ to the core but surprised many with his ballad performance….even Kellie, when she did BoRhap…did not fool anyone that she was a rock singer, but at least showed she could make the temporary transition with reasonable success…if Kat could just temporarily break out of the mold she’s in, and deliver one solid high-energy rock song…people would look at her subsequent performances in a different light…'Think' and 'Elvis' were good higher-energy performances, but Kat needs to refresh the memories of the viewing public that there's more depth to her that they may currently feel...perhaps she can’t ‘out-rock’ Chris, ‘out-soul Taylor, or ‘out-country’ Kellie, but if she adds some more substance to people’s perception of her versatility I think she will win over a lot of new fans…to have a successful music career, she doesn't have to change anything ...but to win Idol, she definitely does. ***So how about it....stick with your strength...or show them something different...
So how about it....stick with your strength...or show them something different...
After Ace's departure... I am expecting to see a 'shift' for Kat's advantage....
Noni, I lurked around ACE's forums and it appears that most of his fans are voting for Chris because Chris is Ace's friend in the show. That "shift" may not happen.
Over at Taylor's camp, they had a poll of who's the prettiest girl in the contest and of course Kat blew everyone away at 28% and Kellie came in second at 6% or something. But no one is saying they are voting for Kat. Shucks....
Bottom line, WE HAVE TO DO IT NEXT WEEK. VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!
I wonder how much advisory support the contestants are allowed....whether they can bring in their own 'team' or whether the AI producers provide direction on song choice… choreography...wardrobe…
I can’t imagine the producers would tolerate an entourage for each contestant getting in the way…Kat’s parents are likely her first line of advice…and Kat must feel comfortable with what she has to do ….but the stakes are pretty high..$1 million contract and other ‘spin-off’s’ from winning…so presumably they’re getting additional professional advice from somewhere…
Here comes the cynic out in me again…to me, the prime motivation for the producers is to achieve ratings…that drives the income stream of the show…network advertising revenue is linked to the shows popularity…collateral merchandise sales…AI tour…future record sales...bla…bla…so their prime motivation is to generate as much interest/ratings in the show as possible…
Yes, the contestants are an integral part of ratings, but starting early on in the process, at the audition stage, the producers/judges don’t always select the best performers…even the current contestants have said some very gifted performers were eliminated while some less talented performers went through…so I am skeptical as to the prime motivation of the producers…they don’t always select the best performers …they make some of their selections based on ratings potential...
I wonder to what extent they would go to manipulate ratings….fabricate the voting results? (possible, but very risky since, if it was ever revealed to be true, the show would lose all credibility and their ‘cash cow’ would die in the pasture);
Or maybe they let the public determine who gets eliminated based on who has the lowest number of votes, and then the producers select who the other two are for the bottom three (since it does not impact who goes home and seems to build drama – I can’t remember if they actually say that those in the 'bottom three' actually have the lowest number of votes…the say that about the one that goes home, but not sure that they say the other two necessarily have the next lowest number of votes – last week it was odd that when Taylor was the last one sitting and all the other contestants were standing in their elimination lines and Ryan said ‘Taylor you may or may not have the highest number of votes….’ - yet he was the last one not assigned to a line, so one would presume he had the highest number of votes – so maybe the producers play with the intrigue of the show by the manner in which they announce the results – maybe only the lowest vote getter is a bona fide public pick and the producers play with our minds by assigning the two others to the ‘bottom 3’ line);
Or they could do some of the subtle things like ‘image shape’ to sway public opinion one way or the other (favorable performance slots…higher-end production support,…spin on the contestants ‘stories…give them a less than ideal song to sing…etc)
I agree Kat and Chris have good potential…and would add Taylor to that list...but I still have my doubts as to exactly what the primary ‘vested interest’ is from the producer’s perspective…and what they might do to serve their own ‘interests’...and most importantly, the implications that might have on Kat having a fair shot at the winners circle...
Ace's fans moving to Kat makes a lot of sense to me...and would be welcomed news....the real showdown comes when one of the 'Big Four' gets eliminated and where those votes go...sticking with current conventional opinion...Kat, Taylor, Kellie and Chris are the favorites...and I believe that they are very close in terms of overall voter support...
I personally think Kellie will be the first of the ‘big four’ to go...her undeniable charm and appeal will ultimately not sustain her through the vocal superiority of the other three...I’m not sure at what point the contestants start to sing multiple songs, but I’m hoping that situation provides the opportunity for Kat to distinguish herself as the most versatile performer of the bunch…