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O'Reilly: Rallying the Christian "Idol" vote against Adam Lambert?
I don't normally watch FOX News. Politics aside, all those old, rabid white guys, blonde former beauty pageant contestants, and Greta Van Susteren's handsewn mouth combine to give me the heeby jeebies. But yesterday The O'Reilly Factor announced in advance that they were going to air a segment about the "Christian Vote" on American Idol and how that might affect Adam Lambert's chances of winning, so darn it, I sort of had to tune in. I considered turning the segment into a drinking game — you had to take a shot every time Bill O'Reilly displayed a cropped photo of Lambert kissing another guy — but I didn't want to have a paralyzing hangover this morning so had to abandon that.
Instead, I decided to take the thing seriously and figure out first: Is there any truth to the assertion that religion plays a big role in who gets crowned the winner; second, was this segment really just a tacit method of mobilizing the Christian vote against Lambert; and third, if getting out the fundie vote was its purpose — just how successful would it be? Answers to these questions plus the video after the break.
O'Reilly's guest during this segment was Newsweek entertainment reporter Ramin Setoodeh. Setoodeh was invited on because he wrote a piece last week which pointed out that many of Idol's former winners (Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks) sort of wore their religion on their sleeve, which led him to conclude that single-issue Christian voters formed a determinative Idol voting block. Setoodeh is not exactly a hard-hitting journalist. He sort of missed the fact that most Idol winners (Christian or not) were typically better performers/singers than the folks they were competing against. Also, he may have overstated the assertion that Idol winners typically wear their religion on their sleeve. I mean, as evidence of that for Carrie Underwood he points to "Jesus Take the Wheel," which I took more as an anthem for insanely reckless driving — "Hit a patch of black ice, throw your hands up in the air...." — than a call to Christ. But regardless of how determinative it is, that there is a Christian voting block is pretty much a no-brainer. Just as there is a Jewish voting block and a gay voting block and so on. O'Reilly himself didn't really draw any conclusions about Christian Idol voting patterns during last night's segment. All he did was bring the subject up so he could rerun those cropped photos of Lambert kissing other guys.
And cropping those photos make them seem far more lurid than they actually are. To my admittedly gay eyes, the uncropped versions actually seemed sort of sweet. FOX News did Lambert a disservice by not running those. So, was O'Reilly trying to mobilize the Christian vote with last night's segment? Probably. But honestly, he might have been just as successful at motivating people who'd want to counter the Christian vote. I mean, I've never voted for an Idol contestant, but last night's segment made me want to call in for Lambert. (And to be honest, if you remove the whole gay v. Christian debate I'm probably more of a Kris Allen fan.) What's your take on this O'Reilly segment? Submitted by on Tue, 2009-05-19 07:46. |
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That's how low the Christian right has sunk to.
Kris and Adam Press Conference
I saw that conference and it
Aww...
Thank you for that press conference link! Of course, as a Kradam fan, I would have known that if not for 1) work; 2) going to this site before every Kradam and/or Idol related sites!
I just love these two. You can see, especially the part when Kris was asked, like you said, the "Christian vote", he did the hand quote thing and seemed really frustrated and you can see him "defending" Adam when the reporter asked about Adam's blonde hair (WTH?) and Kris went and look like he's thinking: "What blonde hair? Am I colour blind?" And then when the reporter actually explained the question, you see Kris being quite irritated as well. He's like thinking: "Okay... this is a really stupid question!" and so he replied: "Yeah, if I had a blonde hair, I wouldn't make it too!" Go Kris!
And Adam, being Adam, he's just articulate and charming and honest during his interview. Some people said that he had that "I'm better than others" vibe. I don't know if you and I and these people were watching the same interview.
You can feel that special bond just oozed out of that interview. Oh, I hope those haters watch this interview and be really ashamed of themselves!
With regards to Bill O'Reilly though, I just refused to watch that. I mean, it's near to the finale. It's in oh-so-many-hours to the performance night and this whole shindig about Bill O'Reilly and some Idol Twitters and then there's the whole Perez Hilton thing coming out. I've never seen such things happening in the past seasons! It is really getting on my nerves! Enough already! He's gay, we know! Kris is a Christian, we know that too! Can we move on to other things now? Oh, why not they show the good stuff? Like the fact that Kris and Adam are close friends for example? What? They are afraid that Kris would get some sort of backlash cos he "befriends the gay"?
Like some AI or Kradam fans love to say, these people are "beating a dead horse". Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. That some people are just getting really annoyed. I agree with the writer. This kind of thing that Bill is doing is making people just wanna vote FOR Adam instead of against him cos it's really irritating.
For O'Reilly
Honestly, for Bill, this was almost "fair and balanced" reporting. He asked questions, let the other guy answer and drive the content. Nothing he said was all that out of line to me. Sure, the cropped photos were salacious, but it is Fox News, and that was probably a producer. I was more amused by the fact that O'Reilly seemed to think that reporting on Idol was beneath him, especially since he once anchored an entertainment tabloid.
The only way I see this as a Christian vs. Gay is that it exposed the competition to people that, like O`Reilly, don't watch Idol. I don't think it changes anything amongst the regular viewers.
Jesus was gay
You mean this guy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disciple_whom_Jesus_loved
It does seem odd the way it's singled out. I mean, did Jesus just like the others as friends? Hate them? Or simply love them equally but a teensy bit more with this one guy who sits in his lap.
And this whole thing with AIdol is fitting in the context of the culture war. I think it's heartening that the leaked pictures didn't hurt Adam getting in the Top 2. That said, I want him to win. AI is a cultural phenomenon, particularly with young people. The Christian Wrong are deathly afraid he's going to win and introduce his boyfriend at the height of his popularity- not unlike the Dumbledore thing. And where do we go from there? AI contestants who show same-sex partners in the actual show, adding more nails into the coffin of Christianity.
And now for something sweet (not mine):
http://animatorsc.deviantart.com/art/Prince-Adam-and-Anakin-12118534
Adam should win based on talent
http://perezhilton.com/2009-05-19-adam-lamberts-new-boyfriend
I know, I know, loathsome Perez, and nothing but this would entice me to visit his site, but awww.
Go Adam!!
She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain~ Louisa May Alcott
Apologist?
I always feel stung by Christian apologists, especially when they themselves are gay but seem to be making excuses for bigotry. Christians are some of the most demonic and hate filled people I've met. They use God as an excuse to drink from the well of hate. Sure, "not all Christians are like that," but you're pretty much the same as them when you make excuses for how those many Christians are.
I haven't been really
I haven't been really paying attention so maybe this has been talked about before, but isn't that the same guy in the pictures? Was Adam in a relationship with him?
What bugs me about all the attention given to Adam's sexuality is that people never talk about him as a person who loves men and has his relationships with men, but always talk about him kissing men in a very sexualised way without any further context. If people are only going to see gay men represented in the media as purely sexual beings I don't see how that could further acceptance whereas being confronted with love, relationships and so on would 1. be more truthful and 2. would put an end to the de-humanising of gays the hardcore Christians seem to dabble in
O'Reilly: Rallying the Christian "Idol" vote against Adam Lamber
I’m a devout Christian and mother of two music-loving boys, and I must ask: What is wrong with America? America’s vote for Kris Allen, or America’s vote against Adam Lambert, seems to be a hate vote against the various sectors of society that Adam appears to stand for. People lost respect of the fact that American Idol is a singing talent competition open to all -- straight or gay, Christian or Jewish, clean-cut or flamboyant glam, etc. Voters forgot that it is not a popularity contest for class of persons — neither an arena to battle for coalition leadership nor grounds to crusade for a religious revival. In Season 8, Kris demonstrated that he is a musician and an outstanding vocalist; but Adam consistently proved to be the amazingly innovative vocal artist and the versatile singer, gifted with a powerful voice. Adam deserved to win. Even Kris acknowledged this glaring truth in his Christian heart so that he openly asserted in public that “Adam deserves this. I’m sorry…” when he was unexpectedly handed the undeserved title. So many seconds passed before visibly bewildered Kris finally acquiesced to receive the undeserved crown, but only after Adam graciously approached to place a brotherly arm around his room mate’s shoulder in a gesture of encouragement. Hello, brothers and sisters -- American Idol is a singing contest and Adam Lambert is the real winner! I should also ask: What is wrong with Fox TV’s American Idol show that they allow such warped controversies and divisiveness to occur?