May 9, 2004

American Idol: why Diana will win.

For one thing, she's been number 1 in the voting for the past four weeks! So Kristin Veitch reports on E! Online, citing info from show insiders. For another thing, there's this:
Monday night's getting-to-know-you special showed the only candidate who can handle herself in interviews is Miss DDG. The others looked like terrified deer in headlights .... Diana seemed a bubbly, well-spoken, 16-year-old southern belle who wants nothing more than to be the next American Idol--while La Toya came across as a tired mother who wants nothing more than to see her children and take a nap. ("It's never going to stop" isn't the best way to garner votes.)

Interesting. The judges have wielded the you're-too-young theme quite a few times. Some of the promoting of Fantasia and La Toya has come in the form of praising their maturity. But in the end, maybe the show's fans really do want someone very fresh, even though it's hard for the youngest contestants to keep up with all the work and to engage with some of the themes that reach back many decades. The younger contestants face an additional burden of having to put in 15 hours a week of schooling. Diana clearly came across as the one with the most personality in those interviews--Veitch is right. She may seem a bit too pageant-y and robotic, but I'm sure the producers can find ways to turn that into an advantage. It will be interesting to see if they pick themes in the next couple weeks that help or hurt her.