This season of American Idol has been the lowest rated season despite the assertion by those running the show that it is the most talented edition yet. The reason for this is that the show has taken on an identity apart from its stated purpose. The cast has become the focus, not the goal.
Randy Jackson. Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Ryan Seacrest have taken over the show. Instead of the audience intensely listening to the contestants sing and judging them by each performance, the audience is waiting to hear what the judges have to say. Will Randy call his dogs? How will Paula act (crazy or sane)? What insulting line will Simon throw at the contestant? How much longer can Ryan Seacrest drag out the show and trade meaningless and repetitive barbs with Simon?
The show needs to rededicate itself to finding a talented musical/singing artist that America will root for and support. To do this, the focus needs to be on the talent, not the glitz of the show.
The initial round of the show is always the lousy auditions. This needs to be stopped. It is entertaining but totally useless to the competition. Save it for a mid-season special or the DVD extras! Instead, add more layers to the selection process.
Perhaps the show should even find a way to open the auditions up to the public by posting audition tapes on a web-site and asking viewers to rate the singers. The highest rated would then advance to the first round of auditions.
Instead of narrowing it down to the top 24, have the top 50. Introduce the 50 during the premiere. Show some footage of each and their back story. Then, the next episode would start the competition.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Democratic Presidential Nominee Selection Process: Problems and Some Solutions
The Process:
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are locked in an unprecedented contest for the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States. Many in the party feel the contest has gone on too long and is ruining the party's chances of success in the general elections come November. This problem is entirely of the Democratic Party's own making and those that are clamoring for someone to drop out are being hypocrites.
The whole point of a nomination process with multiple primaries spaced out over the course of six months is to allow the ebbs and flows of a campaign to present itself to the voting public. There are several elements to look at with regard to the counting of delegates and the naming of the nominee:
Primaries and Caucases - Some are winner take all, others are proportional. Either way, candidates are awarded delegates bases on these events. The general public votes to award the candidate the delegates.
Super Delegates - These are select individuals within the Democratic Party who have an extra vote, not counting the primaries and caucases. They may vote any way they choose and shift the delegate count.
Popular Vote - While the winner of this does not get a prize at all for this "accomplishment," Mrs. Clinton has been touting this as her saving grace.
The Problems:
The complaint is that the process has gone on too long! Wait a minute! Many states wanted to move their primaries earlier in the process and were told not to do so. In fact, Florida and Michigan were punished for doing just that. If those votes were counted, perhaps people would be calling for Obama to resign from the race.
The super delegates are also keeping the race alive. As long as Hillary Clinton can show she has the support of main stream voters she can still win the nomination because the super delegates are tasked with selecting the most electable candidate if the electorate is skewed by fringe elements. It seems in this case that African-American (black) voters have been coming out in larger than usual numbers and almost 90% are voting for Obama. The super delegates may look at this and do either one of two things. 1) They may believe that the black voters will not turn out in such numbers in a general election or even with such a large percentage of black voters, when the candidate is pitted against the Republican nominee it will not be enough to overcome a deficit of votes and win the general election. 2) The superdelegates can select Obama because he has won the most delegates in primaries and caucases.
The Solutions:
The best way, in my ever to be humble opinion, to cure this would be to have a primary month or maybe two months. They should be held closer to the convention. This would force candidates to focus their campaigns on a broad platform. This would eliminate changing of positions after one primary to placate the voters in the next one, or pandering to different groups. A candidate would have to show his (or her) actual politics and make the nation believe that he (or she) is a national leader! After all, they are not running for governor of the individual states they are campaigning in, they are running for President of the United States.
Another solution is either to remove the super delegate option or have them vote earlier in the process, maybe before the primaries so as not to be swayed by the popular vote and bandwagon effect.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are locked in an unprecedented contest for the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States. Many in the party feel the contest has gone on too long and is ruining the party's chances of success in the general elections come November. This problem is entirely of the Democratic Party's own making and those that are clamoring for someone to drop out are being hypocrites.
The whole point of a nomination process with multiple primaries spaced out over the course of six months is to allow the ebbs and flows of a campaign to present itself to the voting public. There are several elements to look at with regard to the counting of delegates and the naming of the nominee:
Primaries and Caucases - Some are winner take all, others are proportional. Either way, candidates are awarded delegates bases on these events. The general public votes to award the candidate the delegates.
Super Delegates - These are select individuals within the Democratic Party who have an extra vote, not counting the primaries and caucases. They may vote any way they choose and shift the delegate count.
Popular Vote - While the winner of this does not get a prize at all for this "accomplishment," Mrs. Clinton has been touting this as her saving grace.
The Problems:
The complaint is that the process has gone on too long! Wait a minute! Many states wanted to move their primaries earlier in the process and were told not to do so. In fact, Florida and Michigan were punished for doing just that. If those votes were counted, perhaps people would be calling for Obama to resign from the race.
The super delegates are also keeping the race alive. As long as Hillary Clinton can show she has the support of main stream voters she can still win the nomination because the super delegates are tasked with selecting the most electable candidate if the electorate is skewed by fringe elements. It seems in this case that African-American (black) voters have been coming out in larger than usual numbers and almost 90% are voting for Obama. The super delegates may look at this and do either one of two things. 1) They may believe that the black voters will not turn out in such numbers in a general election or even with such a large percentage of black voters, when the candidate is pitted against the Republican nominee it will not be enough to overcome a deficit of votes and win the general election. 2) The superdelegates can select Obama because he has won the most delegates in primaries and caucases.
The Solutions:
The best way, in my ever to be humble opinion, to cure this would be to have a primary month or maybe two months. They should be held closer to the convention. This would force candidates to focus their campaigns on a broad platform. This would eliminate changing of positions after one primary to placate the voters in the next one, or pandering to different groups. A candidate would have to show his (or her) actual politics and make the nation believe that he (or she) is a national leader! After all, they are not running for governor of the individual states they are campaigning in, they are running for President of the United States.
Another solution is either to remove the super delegate option or have them vote earlier in the process, maybe before the primaries so as not to be swayed by the popular vote and bandwagon effect.
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