American Idol Finale - Hip Hop Safe
By J. James Estrada (05/19/06)
Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee are the finalists in the current version of American Idol. Last year's show had a Carrie Underwood – Bo Bice final, with Country Carrie prevailing over the long-haired rocker Bo. Preceding Underwood as winners on AI were Fantasia Barrino, Ruben Studdard, and, of course, Kelly Clarkson. Clarkson is still topping the charts with her string of pop hits. Underwood had a successful single, "Jesus, Take the Wheel," from her debut CD and is now a staple in country music gatherings. Barrino and Studdard are in R&B purgatory.
Thanks to record executive extraordinaire, Clive Davis, these two, because of the color of their skin, were sent the way of Missy Elliot and R. Kelly; that is, to Hip-Hop back-alley. That has been a horrible disservice not only to Barrino and Studdard, but to the music loving public at large.
Studdard was sent barreling down the low road of hip-hop/rap/hat-sideways/BET on Saturday afternoons, rather than the better path of his idol, Luther Vandross. Barrino, who made "Summertime" (written by the Gershwin’s of Tin Pan Alley) her signature song in the competition, was last seen seated in the front row of a recent AI show, but was never introduced or acknowledged. Summertime, apparently, has come and gone for the remarkable songstress. A movie is forthcoming about her life from Lifetime Television, but, will that translate into Clarkson-type sales for another “R&B” offering this fall? Not if it contains the same kind of material from her first disc.
What kind of world are Studdard and Barrino becoming prisoners to? How about this story that was in the news in the last few weeks as reported by CNSNews on May 12th:
In the latest of a series of controversies involving radio station shock jocks, the popular host of hip-hop station WWPR in New York City was fired and ordered to surrender to authorities Friday afternoon for making racially charged comments and threatening to sexually molest a four-year-old girl.
My appeal to Clive Davis is to give Studdard and Barrino material worthy of all the airwaves, not just those which poison the inner-city.
J. James Estrada
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