by Jennifer Hoover

Created on: January 16, 2008

There is no money in people who can sing. That, we have seen, is obvious by the recent record sales of those previous contestants of American Idol. Katherine McPhee is hanging by a thread with her label. Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard were recently dropped from their labels. Though Hicks' label says they will pick him back up when his newest works are released, it is still unsure. Is there money in people who can sing though? Last season Sanjaya Malakar went much farther than anyone expected due to his lucrative fan base, namely, the Fanjayas. Can he sing? Not particularly! Did they make money of him? Tons! Not only did he make a ton of money for American Idol, his pictures were strewn through all of the gossip magazines and websites. People loved Sanjaya because of his attitude and look and, sorry to say, but because he can't sing all that well. Similarly, Haley Scarnato was not a top contender in the voice arena, but she had great legs and was willing to show them off. Will she be the next Pussycat Doll? Absolutely not! But she did get a ton of press with her skimpy outfits and suggestive body language. Finally, there was the beautiful Antonella Barba who got caught with racy photos, which is so popular nowadays with the younger stars. Singing does not make the money for American Idol. It's the gadgets and gimmicks of the different contestants that matter and that bring the ratings that make the money. Who would actually want to watch a talent contest with people who actually have talent, but who are unremarkable. This is proven with the wonderfully talented and one of the highest selling American Idol contestants Chris Daughtry. Daughtry recently released an album that sold the most out of all the Idol contestants, save for Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson. He toured with Nickelback and many came to see Daughtry, specifically. I, unfortunately, was stuck behind one of those crazy Chris Daughtry fans at the Nickelback concert. Why did Daughtry go all the way? He's boring! He's average! He has a family. He sings well. He doesn't do any spontaneous or unusual. Why would the Idol producers want to keep someone like Chris Daughtry who can sing well in the competition if he constantly gets great reviews from the judges and is not spectacular in any way? What is American Idol searching for? Let's find that beautiful girl with killer legs who is willing to dress skimpy and do crazy things with her hair. Does she need to be able to sing? Not necessarily, but I guess that could always be a plus. Record sales don't really matter to American Idol judges because it doesn't bring in the ratings for them. It just brings in the fans.

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