Idol Dish

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Melinda's Demise: Too Classy For America?

And now for something a little different... Another Blogger's Take. The following blog was written by the acerbic Mo Rocca.

Posted May 17th 2007 12:09AM by Mo Rocca on AOL

Analysts will rush to explain why Melinda's bid to be our next American Idol faltered tonight. But the dust needs to settle before we truly understand what went wrong.

Was it her age?

Was it what many called her fake surprise look from earlier in the season?

Was it her neck - or what some uncharitably called her lack of a neck? (Her purported necklessness was never verified by medical professionals. Her haircut in fact may have been to blame for a simple misperception.)

OR ... Was it her polish? Was Melinda too classy for America?

As evidenced by the videotaped homecoming, Melinda was indeed the most poised - and this may have been a liability in an America that demands that we let it all hang out.

Jordin wept throughout her homecoming as if she'd just returned from a POW camp. (The way she clutched her best friend Bailey, you'd think the two were sisters reunited after, say, the fall of the Berlin Wall.) Blake's homecoming was equally showy. His father, clearly an emotional dependent, cried that he'd lost his own parents as a boy; that Blake's success was some consolation for his own hardship.

Melinda was more self-possessed, dignified. She teared up, yes, but she kept it together, thanking her friends from Belmont. They thanked her for all she'd done. (Charity work? We don't know. Melinda's not the type to boast.) We've known for some time that Melinda's close to her mother. She's never mentioned her father. And yet her dad Steve was included (awkwardly) in several shots, Melinda putting the best face on what is likely a very uncomfortable situation. That's what modest, discreet people do.

And for this the American people punished her.

***

Other things I noticed:

Jordin's high school is Sandra Day O'Connor HS. Ironic since O'Connor was the critical swing vote in the Supreme Court's deliberations on abortion over the last 20 years. Now Jordin is in danger of being engulfed by the issue.

As much as I like Elliott Yamin - I endorsed his AI bid last year - I don't like his new teeth. But I don't mind the whole look. Almost a young Bob Dylan. Elliott is personally unassailable, as far as I'm concerned. Pure goodness.

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