The Rushfield Review: Chaos in the Idoldome, chaos in the competition

Along with every ticket to the Idoldome comes the warning that any seat not filled half an hour before show time will be reassigned.  And I have seen in my years on the bleachers that that is no idle threat.  Normally I arrive a good 45 minutes before the curtain to avoid pressing my luck. On Rock and Roll night, however, perhaps because I'd internalized the hellfire spirit of the theme, I pressed my luck and strolled over to the Idoldome a mere 25 minutes before 8 p.m.

As I approached, however, I was shocked to find most of the crowd still milling around outside and a giant crane wheeling out of the elephant doors into the studio.  Drawing closer, I heard people whisper that disaster – or twin disasters – had struck.    Apparently, a couple of hours earlier, "Idol’s" beloved den mother, stage manager Debbie Williams, had taken a tumble off the second story of the set down onto the stage 14 feet below.   According to witnesses, there was “a lot of blood.”  We later learned that Debbie had somehow cut her thigh open in the fall and required more than 50 stitches.  Idoltracker’s best wishes go out to her, the heart of the Idoldome.

But apparently that was not the end of the mayhem – leading some to speculate that perhaps Phyllis the ghost of Idol Manor had followed her roommates to their day jobs.  As reported on the air by host Seacrest, the "Idol" orb that anchored the left side of the stage had come unmoored, almost causing the globe to tumble to the floor. 

With 15 minutes to air, audience members were hurried to their seats by a semi-frantic usher; an air of national crisis hung over us, disaster-preparedness drills clicking in as the orb slumped forlornly in its gyroscopic housing.

With six minutes to go, each remaining Idol was rushed across the stage to perform 15 seconds of a  number for use in the closing videos.  As the judges raced to their chairs with minutes to spare, there certainly was an air of chaos, with tension tuned to a fever pitch. 

As for the show, with three weeks until the coronation, the most important decision our nation can make remains a wide-open question.  If the judges and the critics had their way, the competition would have been over a month ago and we’d be cleaning up the confetti from the Lambert victory bash.  But as we saw last week, the public is still wrapping its mind around this question.


One friend, TR, put the Lambert question like this:  Forget about the personal-life talk or the edgy style.  "American Idol" always has been about the dream of lifting a person from humble origins – a waitress, a bar singer – and bestowing upon him or her the greatest mantle in our civilization: fame and stardom.  


Whatever you say about Adam, he clearly is not from humble, out-of-the-limelight origins.  Lambert gives the impression of having gravitated toward the lights of Hollywood since before he could walk.  As far as this blog is concerned, that is fine.  We have long advocated letting professionals, semipros, rock legends, whomever in to try their luck at earning the "Idol" crown – knowing that if they fell short they lost all. But the question remains, will America be willing to let go of that rags-to-riches narrative?  All previous Idols have in their way paid homage to that legend.   Can Adam Lambert break through the bias against Hollywood?

And then there is the matter of our tween overlords, those vicious tyrants who, ultimately, much as we’d like to pretend our votes matter, will chose our next champion. They still give every indication, judging by the signs in the Idoldome, of being a tween nation divided among all four.  The hurt feelings over Kris Allen’s marriage fester and the concern that Allison might be too wild to have as a friend are clearly a factor, but overall they have yet to break hard for one camp.  And can they forgive Allison for going to the hair salon with Adam?  Is that remotely forgivable in tween justice?

Does this give some other group a chance to leap in and decide this contest? Or are the tweens merely toying with us before they announce their decision, dictators that they are. We will know soon enough, but oh, to be a tween girl and hold the fate of Western civilization in the palm of your hand; what that power must feel like!

NOTE: Please join us Wednesday at noon PT/3 p.m. ET for our regular post-game chat at latimes.com/idoltracker

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Phil Stacey: Strong Night of Rock but Adam Rules

-- Richard Rushfield

Photo: Allison Iraheta. Credit: Fox

Comments

[michelle N.]

But Adam IS from a humble and out-of-limelight background. None of my friends living in LA has heard of him. Sure, his name has been on the bill for Wicked and he graced the stage a couple of times when the main actor was not available, but he was nowhere near "famous and successful" pre-Idol. He did Cabaret stuff. He was the lead singer of an obscure band (Citizen Vein, anyone heard of it prior to AI? Didn't think so). He did musical theater (and has never been on Broadway, contrary to popular belief). But none of Adam's pre-Idol stuff really caught the limelight, didn't it? It's all very mind-boggling that such a tremendous talent hasn't been discovered already, and i'm thankful for AI for introducing him to us.
It may seem that Adam has had an inordinate amount of musical practice and training before Adam, but that's just because music is his PASSION and he chose to do something about it. Most of these AI contestants have been doing something with their talent, be it releasing albums (Matt and Kris have, but not Adam) or singing in bar (which is not much different from Adam's cabaret acts). I think only Megan Joy literally came off the street to audition for AI. AI is about finding "undiscovered talent", and i don't see any thing wrong or unfair about Adam's place as the front runner in it.
He has said on Idol that it's "a struggle to make it in this business", and clearly Adam has paid his dues. It's his time to shine, and i don't see why anything should prevent him from achieving the worldwide fame that he clearly deserves.

[uglyduck]

I usually only saw the final show on the past season of AI... So I was wondering, were the Idol winner from the past had really come from a humble background? From what I read on the internet the Top 5 Idol this year, don't really come from a humble (whatever that means) origins and all have some experiences in music and performing in front of audiences, two of them even already produced their albums (not from a major label of course)

[exsinger]

In this age of digital home recording, ANYONE can make and/or publish their own CDs, so it's no longer a mark of having arrived on the scene that a contestant has produced and released an album. None of these kids has appeared on national TV, had national exposure, etc., in any mainstream way. Allison did win a singing contest before on Spanish-language TV, but she was literally a child when she did it, so I don't think that counts. Adam is getting all this attention because, like someone wrote earlier, music is his passion, and he has been training vocally for years in a formal setting. He's clearly ready for stardom, although I have always believed that his voice, perfect in timbre for rock, needs additional work to loosen it up a bit and add some grit. In plain-speak, he sounds very white, and most rock singers at least have a little bluesy-blackness in them.

[Savannah]

I can't comprehend why people would base their votes on who came from the lowest place? This is American Idol....the chance to vote for who you want to be your next music artist, someone to listen to and see in concert. Adam may have had previous work in Hollywood doing musicals, but he's been trying for YEARS to get a record deal and has had no success. He truly wants to win. He truly deserves to win too! Let's not forget that Allison previously won a Telemundo singing competition, scored a record deal, and won $50k. She also lives in LA. So take away the two most talented, yet un-humble-origins people and what are we left with? Boring and boring. No thank you! I'm voting for Adam all the way!!!

[Mary]

Jordin Sparks was the daughter of an NFL player and her parents had financed her Christian music career. Nothing rags-to-riches about that. And what experience Adam has had in theater, David Cook had more with his band and with his solo album. It seems like because Adam is from Los Angeles it's assumed that he was much more successful than he really was.

[Lucy]

Please, do your research!

[suebrody]

Are you KIDDING me, Richard? Your quote: "Whatever you say about Adam, he clearly is not from humble, out-of-the-limelight origins. Lambert gives the impression of having gravitated toward the lights of Hollywood since before he could walk."

You know what? If he had "made it," would he need to be on the show? Is Idol "the lights or Hollywood"? Had he received a major (or any) recording contract? May we remind you of Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, David Archuleta (the winner of Junior Star Search) and the other contestants who made albums and were summarily rejected from labels? Would Adam put himself through this stress if he had "made it"? I am really sick of this argument. He wins or loses based on talent. Let it go already. This, along with gender preference, are ridiculous arguments. If you don't want him to win, come out and say so. No wonder I post at Brian Mansfield's blog and not here.

[ibrmg]

So 'tween overlords' elect our Idol? I don't think that's who elected Taylor Hicks. It was you, or one of your co-workers, who just reported that the average Idol viewer's age is 42.9 years. Based on that, my bet is on Danny Gokey to win. OH! You were right about contestants from LA not getting support. I've said that for years. I don't think Idol wannabe's from NYC get any hometown love either.