I'm Not Surprised

I actually watched much of the Fantasia Barrino phenomenon, and I didn't like it. She was sassy and exhibited a trashy disposition. After one American Idol performance, she brought her illegitimate son onto the stage. Even though she was probably the best singer of the finalists, she finished in the bottom three the next week. After that, her son didn't appear again and she didn't talk about him as much. She also stopped sassing. I'd bet $1,000 she was being coached by AI folks who wanted her to win. From what I saw, the American Idol judges and host (Ryan Seacrest) tried hard to influence public opinion in her favor. Now this:

Kelly Clarkson was the first winner and Ruben Studdard was the season two champion. But judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, who were in Greensboro for auditions Thursday, said Barrino was their favorite.

"If we had to choose one American Idol to go out to dinner with, it would be Fantasia," Cowell said. "There are no airs and graces about her. ... I like her."

Barrino recently disclosed that she is functionally illiterate. The singer discusses her illiteracy in a new memoir, "Life is Not a Fairy Tale," which she dictated to a freelance writer.

Link.

"No graces about her." That's an accurate statement. Her victory was a victory for low-brow tastes in America.

And for the record: I've watched only one season out of the four, which is one season too many, but I got drawn into it by my daughter Abbie's attraction.