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Thanks LP, I don't have CMT (I guess it's cable). But I will watch the performances now.

You are absolutely right. Dee Snider was robbed!!

As a country fan, I am really upset that John Rich picked Julio. My reaction has NOTHING to do with the fact that Julio is not from America or that he sings mostly in Spanish - Tejano music has been around forever and blends country with Latin music, and Freddy Fender used to sing in Spanish, so that's not the issue for me.

It's just that Julio did NOT "go country." He seemed the least enthusiastic about every challenge, did not participate actively in the show, and most importantly he recorded the LEAST country-sounding song of the 6. If he'd come up with a song that I could actually imagine hearing on country radio, I'd be ok with John's decision, but there was nothing country whatsoever about "The Way I Want You."

Even Dee Snider, who admitted in episode 1 that he hated country music, was a good sport and gave it a good shot. And Bobby Brown seemed to take the show very seriously. Even Sisqo's song sounded more country than Julio's! Julio didn't even seem excited when he won. I don't think he was on this show for more than a chuckle and some exposure. He's probably bummed he won.

The best person for John to have picked, if he was serious about picking someone with a chance of a real career in country music, was Diana Degarmo. She had the best voice, the strongest song, and seemed to WANT it very badly. It's hard to imagine Sisqo or Dee or Bobby having long-term country careers beyond one song, and Maureen didn't have the nerves to do it, but I could see Diana sustaining a real country career.

Funny how John came down on Diana SO hard when her demo sounded "too pop" but then picked Julio, the guy with the MOST pop, LEAST country song of all the contestants. Seems hypocritical to me!

I believe John Rich had a pre-arranged idea to bring country to the Latino market, and he thought Julio Jr. was the guy to do that because of his big international fan base. I bet from day 1 John planned on picking Julio for this purpose. I am all for bridging genres but I think John's decision was a poor one. Julio's not the right Latin singer to build that bridge. His song just doesn't sound country at ALL. I find it hard to believe it will ever be played on country radio or be taken seriously by the country audience.

It was totally rigged! Julio did NOT even sound the least bit country at all. Even the person that I thought wouldn't sound country, Sisqo, sounded a lot more country than him. I think Dee, Diana, or heck any other contestant should've won. I have nothing against Julio at all, he's definitely good-looking, but should not have won the competition.

Just watched all the performances and I just say I totally agree with the comments here! Dee's song was a good outlaw county song that it seems would appeal to Big & Rich fans. Bobby's song was surprisingly good. Maureen's singing was the weakest but her song came from the heart. Diana's song sounded the most ready for country radio. But to me Julio's song didn't sound country or different than anything he's done before. Do you think John Rich was just persuaded by all the girls screaming for Julio? Those girls aren't necessarily going to buy him records. I think John made a big mistake and if this show had been decided by public vote the way American Idol is, Bobby or Diana would have won.

apparently country fans are already calling their radio stations saying they will boycott if the station plays julio's song. so the single doesn't stand a chance. this may actually hurt julio's career in the US which is sad because it's not really his fault. i get the impression he signed up for this show for fun with no expectation or desire to win, so he didn't even really try. then he won by surprise & had to record a country song that will probably be boycotted by country fans & ignored by his own fans. so this was not a good career move for both julio or john rich.

There was a poll on Big And Rich;s web site about who should win. These are the results:

Carnie Wilson 17%
Bobby Brown 13%
Diana DeGarmo 41%
Julio Iglesias Jr. 4%
Maureen McCormick 9%
Sisqo 5%
Dee Snider 11%


So your right #6 - if the public had voted Julio never ever would have won. Well now the public DOES have a chance to vote .... by not buying Julio's single when it comes out!

I'm an 'American Idol' fan, but since I'm also a Lyndsey Parker fan I logged in here to have a quick look. I ended up reading the previous 8 comments and would have read even more if there were more. I'll keep checking in. I have to say, above all, I am so impressed by the comments left by the people thus far. Very very intelligent, well thought out and fair. CMT appears to attract some clever fans. In the meantime, I watched all the videos. I think that it is almost tragic that Diana DeGarmo didn't win this competition. I hope this experience advances her career though, as she truly seemed to have wanted this and I think she really deserved to win.

I don't know how far in advance this show was taped but I assume it was before that poll was taken. I wonder if John Rich had been able to see how low the public support was for Julio if he would have changed his decision?

I totally agree with the other comments. I watched all the performances too and was floored when Julio won. I thought he was the worst out of all of them.

you people, seem to forget that Diana sounds to much like everyother pop country singer. Enough is enough. We need varity. We have not heard anyone in latin country since Freddie Fender. Give Julio a chance. John Rich has been in this buisness long enough to know he made the right decision. If you are a fan of his you'll stick by his decision..

why did John dress like a pimp? he looked ridiculous, trying waaaay too hard to seem important. what a loser.

Julio did just fine. He had just as much a right to win as anybody else. Love you, Julio.

Dear LP, did you know that your interview with Randy Jackson is referenced on VFTW.com? Just in case you missed it, here is what they say:

Title: "Mariah Carey will mentor the Idols".

As if we don't hear enough diva music on the show, Randy Jackson reveals that Mariah Carey will be a mentor on this year's show. Does this mean a Mariah Carey theme week? That seems unfairly weighted toward David Archuleta and his melismatic, corny diva-isms. Though it would also mean a hilarious performance from Amanda. Or will it just be another "Music that Mariah likes" week like Gwen Stefani's VFTW victory train wreck week last year? Either way, a terrible week of awfulness is on the horizon, so we're happy either way. Randy is also asked about VFTW in the article and he says, "I don't even know what that's about. It's just more haters cashing in." Come on, dawg. Haters? Sounds a bit pitchy to us.

Posted by thefunnystone on March 10, 2008 - 6:19pm. Tags: American Idol Updates Randy Jackson.

Sidenote for LP - off topic:

Just saw on TMZ.com that they have a story on Little David's Stage Dad. Allegedly the dad has been barred from other lots for other talent shows etc. Someone way back posted that they thought this might be the next "scandal" (on one of your other blogs - the one about David H's elimination). Maybe they're right. I think the TMZ.com story on Little David's dad starts tomorrow. Not sure? (BTW, I love love love David A.)

I disagree with pretty much all of yall. I personally hated Dee Snider's performance and some of the others were okay (But Diana did very well). I think Julio's song was a really good one. I was excited to buy the single. And I AM a big country fan, although the song doesn't seem extremely country, but I think that is okay.
Go Julio =]

If you thought Julio's song was good then your either a pre-teen girl or deaf because it was the worst out of all the finalists and received the least/weakest reaction from the crowd and no, a bunch of screaming pre-teen girls doesn't count.