American Idolatry not as shallow as I would like

Pop Quiz: Who is the man shown in this picture?


If you answered the inevitable outcome of a love tryst between O, Brother Where Art Thou co-stars John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson, you would be technically correct, though missing the point. No, this man is Elliot Yamin, one of the remaining four contestants on American Idol.

I am floored that he's made it this far. I grant you that I have little to no knowledge as to the difference between good and great singing, and I hear that he's apparently the best male vocalist they've ever had. But still, this guy? Look at this picture, he kind of looks like Batboy. And since when has American Idol been about who sings the best?


At first I thought that Paris' elimination this past Wednesday was just another continuation of American Idol's two most frequencly recurring themes 1) a doofy white guy makes it far in the competition (does it get doofier than Clay Aiken?) and 2) an amazing and attractive femal vocalist (Tamyra Gray, Jennifer Hudson) is voted off before taking her rightful spot in the Top 3. But I didn't feel completely comfortable making that assumption since I've only ever heard Elliot sing a few times. I always fast-forward Elliot's performances because watching his face as he sings make me cringe. I'm not joking, and I can't explain it other than his face fills me with pity because he's not attractive. Yes I am just that shallow. So to explore the fascination with this man who, as far as I can tell, is talented but not that interesting or attractive, I decided to break one of my own rules about how I should spend my time and I visited a message board on the Idol website. Here was my favorite fan testimonial:

"...for the first time in years i have found myself praying again, and praying for elliott, because i honestly see a lot of myself in him, like when he cried after his mom's video and he said he missed his family and friends, and how down to earth he is, and also i have prayed because i truly feel he deserves it."
~ a 27 year old message boarder who sympathizes with Yamin because her mother died recently and his mother is ill

I'm a changed woman. Sure he's weird looking, but apparently he's a powerful man -- after all he re-united this woman with her God. Plus he's also hard of hearing, his mom is sick, and he seems to cry a lot. So I guess I understand why people overlook his face and vote for him (pity). From here on out, I will join this pity-party and will throw all my non-voting American Idol support behind Yamin. Might as well, my Idol pool is shot to hell since he made it to the top 4 anyway.




P.S. It was disturbingly easy to find a picture of the two Brother stars standing a little-too-close together. Maybe they really do have a love child, and maybe it really is Yamin?