Clearly, the most talked about of the males at this point is Chris Sligh. Let me put this straight out. I don’t like the guy. It’s not his singing which isn’t that bad. It’s not even that he threw the tele-tubbies thing at Simon. It’s him or to be more precise the fact that I’m one of the people who saw his blogs before he made the semis.
I don’t have a problem with Chris Slime being Christian and I don’t think Christians have to go around praying all the time. Many of the ones I know are very funny even irreverently so, slightly rebellious, and certainly able to have a good time. Sligh’s blogs revealed that the guy’s moves on the show are very calculated as in “What persona do you think I should put on to get myself on the show?”
It struck me that he wants to be famous for its own sake. I imagine at some point after he’s gone a few rounds, he’ll play the spiritual card and likely play it better than Mandisa did last year, but there’s a certain hypocrisy happening here that starts with his set up with Ryan on Thursday night.
“I love Simon and I meant absolutely no disrespect with my remark about Il Divo and the Teletubbies?”
It’s a flat out lie. He obviously meant to get a reaction. It was part of his plan and if it wasn’t disrespectful, what in the name of anyone’s God was it? Sligh was just doing damage control and he chose the smarmy route, i.e. he was basically Peter denying Jesus when he actually had the opportunity to show some integrity. What kind of convictions does the guy actually have other than a desire to get ahead on the show?
Taylor Hicks might have played the Idol game extremely shrewdly, but he seemed to do so because he appeared to be very committed to his music. Kellie Pickler in all likelihood overplayed the bumpkin thing along with the sad back story last year at least partly because she was a better comedienne than she was a singer. Still, there was something ultimately honest and likable about Kellie herself. She was doing it all with a bit of a wink. Chris Sligh is really closer to Richard Hatch, the first winner of Survivor. He’s doing it for the fame/money and it all strikes me as a bit cold-hearted and spiritually empty. If he loves the music, it hasn’t come across so far.
Article comments
1 - Ricky
Elliott and even Chris are way better than all the guys combined this year. Aside from Blake beat-box Lewis, nobody really stands out, no distinct voice. Just annoying. As for the girls, for me, there are at least 4 very very strong contenders.
2 - chancelucky
Ricky,
If I were to do a hundred word version of the review, that's pretty much what I'd say.
3 - Joyntex
The only season AI has been able to hold my interest the entire time and get any of my votes is season 5 and that is because of Elliott. He not only needs to phone home, he needs to come home!! There are some very talented girls this year but the special "spark" for me just isn't there like it was last year.
4 - chancelucky
I certainly understand your feeling that way Joyntex. Personally, I'd give them another couple weeks just to see how some of the contestants develop. At this point last year, very little was known about Elliott.
5 - chancelucky
I came across one of Chris Sligh's blogs that still appears to be online. He does, in fact, make his differences with Bob Jones University and his personal views quite clear there. On this particular issue, I'm happy to say that I'm glad to have found out a bit more about him. He comes across as a thoughtful fellow in his blog, something different for a would be Idol. I still didn't find the apology all that sincere though.
6 - Erik
Hi. I really enjoyed your article, but I found your comments about Chris Sligh and Bob Jones University incredibly cruel. Please understand that BJU is the largest private liberal arts college in South Carolina, and the student body consists of students from over forty foreign countries. Again, I found your article very interesting. However, please stop look at large universities monolithically and keep an open mind when it comes to individuals whose beliefs, ethnicities, or backgrounds are unfamiliar to you. (By the way, Senator McCain has never spoken at BJU. He almost did back in 2000, but the George Bush/Alan Keyes controversy happened before he actually visited).
7 - chancelucky
Erik,
thanks for your thoughtful comment. I had looked a bit into Chris Sligh after I posted the article and had posted a comment above yours acknowledging that Mr. Sligh seems to have repudiated some of BJU's policies that I object to.
I also spent some time looking into BJU itself. The school did not admit blacks until 1974 and only after the IRS threatened to take away its tax exemption. The University's defense was that it sincerely believed that God forbade the mixing of the races.
The interracial dating policy was in place until the year 2000 after George Bush spoke there. McCain was going to speak there in 2000 until a BJU professor apparently spread rumors that McCain's non-white adopted child was illegitmate.
In 1998, the school threatened to arrest a homosexual alumnus if he appeared on campus.
I won't get into some of the tangles it's had over Catholics and Mormons.
I do understand that the University now permits interracial dating and that the student body and faculty have always been diverse.
I shouldn't assume that anyone associated with Bob Jones University is necessarily racist, anti-gay, or religiously intolerant. I do recognize that there's a diversity of opinion in any institution or community. At the same time, the school itself has a pretty sad record in these areas.
I don't know that it's cruel to bring these facts up. It wasn't fair of me to impute some of these things to Chris Sligh just because he went there. I, however, have no trouble criticizing the instuttion.
8 - mamoucheca
i think the show wuz better last year but i have a feeling a girl is gonna win cause they seem lyke their doing betta than the boyz but its it anyone handz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 - chancelucky
I think most everyone is guessing that one of the ladies will win this year, but I don't think it's anyone's ballgame.
I would be really shocked if any of the following won.
1) alaina alexander
2) antonella Barba
3) Nicholas Pedro
4) Sanjaya Malakar
there are at least 4-5 others who are basically just a matter of when they get eliminated and not can they win.