Daughtry: Broaden Your Base
John Podhoretz has a lesson in national politics for American Idol's Chris Daughtry in his column today. It seems the outrage continues over Daughtry's exit this week, and Podhoretz parallels the weekly vote cycle to presidential primaries.
He writes:
If you want to understand "Idol," you need to understand American politics. And if you want to understand the workings of American politics, "Idol" isn't a bad introduction to the way political coalitions are formed and elections are won.[snip]
This winnowing process allows the most appealing candidates to pick up steam by adding new voters to their cadre of supporters. And as they do so, the field continues to be winnowed, until finally there are only one or two candidates left standing. The single-issue candidate, the flash-in-the-pan, the guy who has one fantastic debate - they may all have their moments, but in the end, the candidate with the most broad-based appeal will usually win.
And this is what explains Chris Daughtry's stunning loss this week on "American Idol." He has a distinctive voice and distinctive appeal. The problem is that he never broadened his base very much. If you liked him from the start, you stayed with him - which is why he remained solidly among the top contenders through most of the show's run.
And, as in politics, Daughtry already has his first job offer.
—Nicole Brydson
At last, somebody understands. He never picked up the departing fanbases and that is all there is to it. Not everyone loves rock. The demographics who do, are not the general voters of American Idol. Chris was fed as the winner to the media by the judges but he was never the fan favourite.
From where I sit, Chris's loss was more a problem of getting out the vote than of broadening his base. Lots of people who might have voted for him in the final didn't bother this week because they thought he was safe. It might also show the difference between polls of the general electorate and of likely voters. Since the AI voter is much more likely to be young and pop-oriented than the average viewer, a rocker candidate with broad support generally could be upset by less popular (less talented?) candidates who resonate better with the teenagers who actually vote.
Perhaps American Idol/Idle Gennaro can take Mr. Cuomo campaigning with his other endorsed candidate: Tom Suozzi.
Good to see that since Ben left, the Politicker has become irrelevant.