Word: idolize
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...AMERICAN IDOL It takes talent, a bio and a whiff of Machiavelli to win this reality-show crown...
Every reality show needs a mansion," jokes Patrick Lynn, a segment producer for American Idol. The rented eight-bedroom manse that houses Idol's finalists, in the mountains above Los Angeles, is like the show itself: big, showy and just tacky enough to be amusing. There are faux-castle turrets, an Egyptian-style horse statue, a gargantuan wooden wagon, a mammoth futuristic fake-suede couch--and three very ordinary teenage women battling America's largest case of butterflies. A few weeks ago, over a catered dinner of poached salmon and Chinese chicken salad, the contestants chatted with TIME about taking...
...should they? Idol watchers take these questions seriously. After the talented Jennifer Hudson was booted in April, there were charges of racism (Hudson is African American) and vote fixing. USA Today editorialized, "Will this prime-time scandal further sour the public on other elections?" One suspects democracy will survive no matter what happens on the May 26 finale. But America's No. 1 reality show--up 19% over its red-hot 2003 ratings--is more than just a contest. It's a weekly interrogation by America of its tastes. We watch. We vote. Sometimes, we get angry at our voting...
Nonetheless, Barrino is a favorite of the judges--"The best Idol ever," says judge Randy Jackson--and many viewers, perhaps because she has both a strong voice and a personality that pops. But personality, and a memorable personal story, can cut two ways. Barrino, 19, is the single mother of a 2-year-old girl, Zion, a fact some fans in online forums have tut-tutted. Others don't like her boldness. "People call me 'ghetto,'" she says, over a goodbye kiss-off dinner for John Stevens, Idol's Sinatraesque teenage crooner, at Mr. Cecil's California Ribs in Sherman...
...North Shore," a prime-time twentysomething soap that aims to be "Melrose Place" to "The O.C."'s "Beverly Hills 90210"; it's set at a Hawaiian resort, and I'm taking bets as to when booted "American Idol" chanteuse Jasmine Trias makes a guest appearance...