Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Day I Pissed Off The David Archuleta Fans


I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Hollywood Week on Idol. Nothing too crazy, pretty much in the same vein as all of my posts; sarcastic, critical, but all-in-all just writing down a few notes. Not exactly an essay. Like most posts, no one commented and I moved on. But this week a reader posted the following:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for hating on David! It'll make it so much easier to laugh at you when he succeeds!! Oh, and by the way, he has a paralyzed vocal chord, unlike you, who sits at home and judges black people and prodigies. Guess ur another 1 2 add 2 my "Hataz" list!!!!


There are a lot of things interesting with this comment but we will try to keep it to a minimum.
  • I'm aware of the throat condition. I put "sounds" in bold and italics to make you aware that a singer doesn't have to sound like he has one. (Satchmo, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan excluded)
  • If David Archuleta is a prodigy, then there are a lot of prodigies running around high school show choirs across the nation. Don't use the word lightly. If you enjoy his music, great. But a prodigy? Really? Even you may argue that word was a little strong.
  • It's hard to take offense to someone who writes with numbers and uses unnecessary Zs. I felt your intensity though.
  • And oh yeah, I'm Black.
So I had a good laugh, went to bed and moved on. But this week, edubTV became enemy number one for David Archuleta fans. Thanks to some sort of message board or blog search, I've received 8 more anonymous comments from fans telling me I'm a freak, a lazy bum, I can't hear, etc. The Archies are obviously a very passionate group of people. A little nuts but what good group of fans aren't? You cant say they don't care.

The only thing? I actually don't. If David Archuleta walks away with an American Idol victory, there's no bad blood with me. I'm not even watching the show in real time or voting. What power do I possess to shift this competition? Absolutely zero.

So why this post? I am fascinated by the outpouring of unflinching support for American Idol contestants. Fans of all ages are following these people to the ends of the earth. While I fully support having a strong cause to fight for, does anyone else think it's alarming that some have chosen teenage/twenty-something singers?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm... OK - yeah, I'm definitely an "Archie" - and I don't think that the word "prodigy" is too strong at all - have you actually seen this kid sing at an even younger age? He was always amazing. Check out some of his youtube videos - "A Thousand Miles" is one of my favorites - he plays the piano flawlessly in it! Sure, there's lots of talented undiscovered singers, but NONE have matched the talent I've seen on this kid anywhere, or on TV, including American Idol. Every performance he gives is basically perfect, and he's got a great personality to match.

And wow - you think it's alarming to support teenage singers? When do you expect people to start trying for their dream? When it's too late and they're in the nursing home? You're basically saying that it's crazy to support someone young with a dream, am I right? I think it is a pretty strong cause to fight for - maybe not at the level of causes you're used to seeing ( maybe the cure for cancer, which is OBVIOUSLY a big cause to fight for! My dad died of cancer! ) - but nonetheless, I think it's fantastic that a young person should pursue their dream of singing, especially someone with his talent!

Obviously I strongly disagree with you - but you should seriously think before you post, which I'm sure you tried to do. But supporting a young singer is not a bad cause at all, and I'm sure anyone else would agree with me.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy Erin's blog.

I think that the kid has an unusual voice but I really liked his performance of Imagine. He's decent, as are all of the contestants (but only decent). Right now he is one of the best performers on this season. That doesn't say much though because this season is quite dissapointing...

People freak out too much about these things.

Sewizzle said...

I also enjoyed Erin's article. I find it's scary that people are considering David a prodigy. A prodigy to what exactly? What cause is he fighting for? I think what Erin is saying that it is a bit extreme when fans start following a teenage pop star to the end of earth when he isn't going to have a huge effect in the world we live in.