Richard Rushfield, the preeminent 'American Idol' scholar of our time, and author of the forthcoming Hyperion book 'American Idol: The Last Empire,' has long maintained that the television singing competition show is being destroyed by young girls. Natasha Vargas-Cooper, the preeminent scholar of tween girls of our time, and author of the forthcoming 'Mad Men Unbuttoned,' has had enough. For better or for worse, we've asked them to take their ongoing argument on the matter public.
Natasha Vargas-Cooper: I knew that the results this week would be controversial because American Idol's final six competitors are what remains when the fat is cut. And the time has come to discuss this matter like adults.
Richard Rushfield: Yes, we have to deal with the fact that a cabal of juvenile terrorists who no longer are held back by shame or any principles controls this nation.
Natasha: Oh, Richard!
Richard: It's the second year in a row that only one girl is in the top five. [Spoilers follow!]
Natasha: What did tonight say to you about American Idol?
Richard: It says to me that we are fooled into thinking we have any rights in this nation. In fact, we are giving the illusion of democracy and a ballot box. But governance is really only open to those who are created differently....
Natasha: Will you give me the description of the oppressors?
Richard: Those who have the ability to text 800 times in an hour. Which is to say, 11 – 14 year old girls who come to the table with one agenda and will do whatever it takes to bring it about.
Natasha: Find boyfriends?
Richard: To prop up cute boys on their television competitions.
Natasha: Hasn't it always been this way with idol though? Why did people like Kelly Clarkson or Jordin Sparks win?
Richard: No. The big change, I think, and I have only circumstantial proof for this as the numbers are not made public about the vote totals...
Natasha: (Lack of transparency = first sign of oppression!)
Richard: But since text messaging has become ubiquitous, in the past 4- 5 years, the road for girls has gotten increasingly hard.
Natasha: Girls on the show?
Richard: Yes, of course, what other girls matter?
Natasha: Richard!
Richard: But you know, girls on Idol are a metaphor for the rights of girls in general, in society and government and stuff.
Natasha: Ok, so who felt the blade of the tweens pre-teen justice tonight? Tell us about Ms. Magnus?
Richard: So Siobhan Magnus was one of the most unique, talented young women to come across the idol stage in a while: a goth who loved Hanson, a glass blower from Cape Cod, with an Edward Gorey tattoo on her arm, she seemed the promise for non-cookie cutter women on this show.
Richard: But since the rise of the tweens, circa season six, the only women that get anywhere are in the Jordin Sparks mode.
Natasha: Jordin Sparks being the portly, pan-ethnic, 17-year-old.
Richard: Yes, the perpetually smiling, non-threatening best friend who would never ever talk to a guy you like. And in the past couple years, even they haven't been allowed through.
Natasha: Why was she cast out on her Shania Twain week?
Richard: It's odd that Siobhan would have been cast out this week, as first of all, she did well last night-by the judges review. And she was in the final slot, aka the pimp slot, which generally guarantees you sail through, as it's the last thing voters see before they go to the polls.
Natasha: Yes, she is, in the Mamet sense, A CLOSER.
Richard: Well I think basically it was the tweens sending a message, saying: no one is safe.
Richard: They stayed with her for the fast few weeks while she was struggling, they felt bad for her (non-threatened) but once she had a good week, they said, nuh-uh, you're gone, lady.
Natasha: Who is the ideal tween star from the idol ranks?
Richard: Well, David Archuleta is the classic.
Natasha: I always felt that watching Archuleta was the equivalent to watching a butterfly landing on the face of baby with Down Syndrome. So gentle, so sweet, unbearably so.
Richard: That's a... beautiful metaphor.
Natasha: I'm at work on a haiku.
Richard: But what was interesting that year was in the end, a good portion of the tweens split away. David Cook took a bite of the tween demo. David Cook unleashed something powerful and deep in the tween soul.
Natasha: Did he tap into the Twilight side of the Tweens?
Richard: I stood in the moshpit one night when he performed, just to experience. Adventure journalism. I was lucky to escape with my life
Natasha: The stormy, angst, bad boy that you want to make out with kind of thing?
Richard: Definitely. Something from their primeval, pre-verbal history.
Richard: That is the thing people don't understand about the tweens. They don't just want shiny and clean. They want that in girls, but in boys, they want some roughness too. Just a tiny bit. Like, one day stubble.
Natasha: Right, but no motorcycle, just a black Acura.
Natasha: Richard. Can I give you my defense of tweens? And why Siobhan Magnus needed to be sacrificed tonight?
Richard: Oh boy. Let's hear it.
Natasha: Tweens have been the engine of pop culture since, well, since the days of yore! Beatlemania! Presley! I'm pretty sure toothy Brits in training bras had Oasis posters up!
Natasha: Magnus was, though an exotic flower from Cape Cod! She seemed woefully out of touch! GIRLS CAN SENSE IT!
Richard: She was a glass blower! Have they no pity?
Natasha: That's like saying 'she was a mime!' This is not the Left Bank of Paris! THIS IS THE IDOLDOME!!
Richard: The only way a girl can survive on Cape Cod is by blowing glass! Since the mines shut down....
Natasha: Mimes don't buy records! Tween girls do! And their love is pure!
Richard: I dispute that point. Tween girls are fonts of resentment and fascist control impulses.
Natasha: They are reacting to their primal instincts to find suitable boyfriends! Look, there is no doubt that tween girls are conservative. NO DOUBT.
Richard: Yes, and they need to be locked up until they get a handle on that. Until then, they have no place in civil discourse. Let alone RUNNING SOCIETY!
Natasha: But is pop culture not made for them!? You cannot show up at theme park with roller coasters and demand a dramatic reading of Brecht!
Natasha: Ergo, you cannot expect American Idol to be controlled by anything but pre-menstrual globs of desire and lavender dreams (ie, tweens).
Richard: I can indeed. I'm willing that they should have a vote in pop culture and I'm glad there are channels made for them. But let's look at the history here....
Richard: Idol once gave them a seat at the table. Which was good, they should be heard, so we thought. But once there, they didn't want just a seat. They wanted the whole table and all the chairs and every poster on the walls.
Richard: There was a time when we were a rational democracy. When we elected giants like Clarkson and Barrino as our leaders, girls, nay, women even, were allowed to have a voice but that day is gone.
Natasha: Why was Clarkson victorious? I didn't find her to have any edge at all when she was competing. Is it because people sent in their votes on PARCHMENT? Written with their QUILLS?
Richard: Perhaps they did. Clarkson was the platonic candidate, its unfair to even talk of her. She was everything to everyone, successfully.
Natasha: True.
Natasha: Then how do you account for the unlikely success of the Hippie Bowersox in this season? Account for it!
Richard: The Bowersox has the girls convinced that she is just a fun wacky free spirit that you could totally take off your shoes and just sit on the floor singing songs and coloring with her.
Natasha: It's true that she is also non-threatening.
Richard: And since she's a mother, she wouldn't go after the guy you like.
Richard: But all the same, they will turn on her before this is done.
Richard: Their lust for blood is insatiable.
Natasha: It's true that she is an unlikely winner.
Natasha: Do you think it will come down to Lee DeWyze? THE DREAMY BLUE-EYED BOY WHO USED TO SELL PAINT AND NOW MOSTLY TRAFFICS IN MY LOVE FOR HIM?!
Richard: What can be said about Lee?
Natasha: Why are you not convinced by his smokey vocals and 'aw shucks' demeanor? He brought a bagpipe on stage. How is that not edgy enough for you?
Richard: I'm not unconvinced by him. He's had some good nights.
Richard: But when you look back at the nights, David Cook had sensational, show stopping moments, where he redefined a song. Kris Allen had some fantastic nights too.... but no one shocks us this season.
Natasha: Do not defend Kris Allen to me.
Natasha: Kris Allen is not to be trusted.
Richard: Kris Allen is a wonderful young man and a fine champion. You are lucky to have him.
Natasha: Richard! You have been seduced by these people! I am for the Hobbesian element.
Natasha: NO ONE CAN BE SHOWN MERCY IN THE NAME OF PERSONALITY!
Richard: Watch these videos..
Richard: And tell me you're not seduced. (Both shot by me, BTW.)
Natasha: NO! I CARE NOT FOR WHAT HAPPENS OFF THE IDOL STAGE! Respect the medium. I love the purity of form.
Richard: I love Kris and nothing will take that from me.
Natasha: So. Who SHOULD be making these decisions if not the lusty mamas and their pre-teen offspring?
Richard: Okay, here is what I propose.
Richard: First of all. Institute a voting age.
Richard: Say 16 years old.
Richard: Second.
Richard: There should be a secret panel of experts who are allowed to secretly guide this and who are given say 10 million votes to throw around.
Natasha: You are the fascist!
Richard: I'm a monarchist. The tweens are fascist; wrapping their dictatorship in populist trappings.
Natasha: You cannot pick and choose your democracy!
Richard: I'm not saying the panel must choose me for the secret experts panel, but if called upon, of course I would be willing to serve.
Natasha: But Richard! You were born in like, the Victorian era!! You had Bowie or some shit. THIS IS THE TWEENS TIME! It's like the Goonies!
Richard: When a system has failed to secure its citizens' basic needs, it's time for responsible people to take matters into their own hands.
Richard: When you go into a grocery store and knock over all the bottles, someone gets a bill...
Natasha: Four legs good, two legs bad.
Richard: You know, democracy served its purpose.
Richard: But monarchy has traditionally been the best guarantor of happiness for the greatest number. And also is by far the best form of government just from a costume/style perspective.
Natasha: Leviathan!
Richard: We all saw with our own eyes Thomas Hobbes' worst nightmares of an electorate turned into a bloodthristy mob come true. These people are monsters.
Natasha: Richard, who is more anti-female? You or I?
Richard: You.
Richard: I'm supporting women's rights on this show
Richard: I'm sorry that it's girls who are standing in their way. You claim to be a feminist but you're standing by and allowing your sisters to die.
Natasha: I speak for the tweens! No one defends them. I am their public defender. The tweens have no taste. They only have emotion. They can smell a phony. They cannot be hoodwinked by sweet promises of edginess or indie rock. They are the most naked, crass, commercial, demographic. They are the marrow of pop culture!
Richard: They may have served a purpose but American Idol power was never put DIRECTLY in their hands and that has driven them mad with power.
Richard: They have lost their moral compass. And these screamings, the shriekings. We just need to say to them, "Get a hold of yourselves! where is your dignity?"
Natasha: THAT'S WHAT SO MARVELOUS ABOUT TWEENDOM! There is no dignity! It's all feeeeeelings! Like Crying Girl. The tween epitome.
Richard: Crying Girl and I are having a heated debate right now. She actually is not representing her flock.
Richard: Feelings have no place in the public square. They should take them to their rooms.
Natasha: Did you ground Crying Girl?
Richard: Ashley Ferl the Crying Girl was torn between Bowersox and Siobhan. She has walked away from her people. However, I begged her to throw her support and endorsement entirely behind Siobhan and she refused to narrow it down.
Natasha: How old is she now?
Richard: She is 16. She drives a car. And she's more the screaming girl these days.
Natasha: You see, she has outgrown her role as the leader of the tweens. Just like Miley...
Richard: She has... but she will always exert great influence. If only she'd use it!
Natasha: She will vote for Lee Dewyze. I believe Lee is the best. You know I have felt this way. I feel safe when I dream about him.
Richard: He will win.
Natasha: Can I count on you to support him?
Richard: I'm predicting not endorsing.
Natasha: YOU MUST CHOOSE!
Richard: I am on the sidelines now.
Natasha: MAGNUS IS GONE! YOU MUST ACCEPT AND JOIN IN THE FUTURE.
Richard: Why should I pretend I have a voice in this contest?
Richard: Why should I pretend that I can be heard in a culture ruled by fear?
Natasha: We have no time for petty complaints.
Natasha: We are building our uber-boymensch.
Richard: You see! The velvet glove comes off and the iron fist is revealed!
Natasha: Salute yourself in Generalissimo Dewyze!
Richard: To quote Auden, "All I have is a voice, to undo the folded lie."
Having dedicated an intense ten minutes to the series this season, I have confidently concluded that you are guaranteed better musical performances, from a variety of orifi, in the parking lot of most suburban Holiday Inns at 2:30 a.m.
Oooh, does this title replace 'Footnotes'? I LIKE IT July 20, I am excited for you!
There's a surprise in it 4 uuuuu
My Idol? My Idol Seems So Smart But I'm Also Scared About My Idol.
(that's an ugly idol)
I told you we shouldn't give women the vote.
Ah yes, but then, of course, they will turn on the very winner they selected, and claim the runner-up (or 4th runner-up) as their true favorite, the one who was "robbed," and they will rally and rebel against the winner, as the winner represents something average and universal and, worst of all, ordinary, in terms of being something everyone likes.
So, like most tweens do, they will seek out/support the "alternative," which is the "misunderstood" or "underrated" runner-up (Team Jacob syndrome, I guess?), and he/she shall be their true hero in the end, or at least until they forget all about all of these people when the new crop of maybe-stars comes along.
Have you seen Jacob? I mean, wow!
Team Abs.
It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes.
Too long. Didn't read.
Julie Burchill said many years ago that rock critics have never taken the tastes of teenage girls seriously.
I loved Allison Iraheta. Whatever happened to her?
Her album came out last year! It was pretty good! BUT a mainstream pop-rock record by a lady who does not have a pre-2007 track record is maybe one of the hardest things to market right now, because it has pretty much nowhere to go as far as promotional outlets. (Aside from 'Idol,' of course, but it's not like they can have her on every week.)
And yes. Not taking the tastes of teenage girls seriously is one of the most noxious manifestations of rockism out there. Still kicking, too!
pre-2k7 nostalgia is a powerful force.
i have enjoyed this dialog far more than i have ever enjoyed american idol.
Really. Rushfield (whose work I have always liked) as the World's Oldest Mouseketeer, and "Mad Men Lady" who makes watching Mad Men the maddiest in "Smells Like Tween Tyranny." Wonderful.
Look, without the tween vote Siobhan would have still been gone, it just would have been next week instead of this week. I'm sure tweens are responsible for Tim Urban and Aaron Kelly hanging on past their expiration dates, but that can only go on for so long before actual talent wins out. The simple fact is that while many of the girls in the competition this year were good, none of them really had a chance of winning the whole competition except Crystal. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.
I'm male, BTW.
you both are forgetting the even more key demographic out there of OLDER WOMEN WHO ALSO VOTE A LOT. and who also clog up comment sections to no end (lol i bet the glamberts are going to invade this comment section full force). i think that your point about the rise of text-messaging among tweens is a good one, but you're ignoring the fact that idol's demo overall is aging, and people who can be enjoyed/lusted after/etc by, say, women ages 35-54 have a big advantage.
the archuleta-bot aaron kelly, for example, would be nowhere without the moms who all went 'aww' at his dedication to one of them on tuesday night; contrast him to tim urban, who totally appealed to younger girls in a goofy-cute-guy way but probably annoyed older women who didn't find him serious and who got dispatched last week. (see also: jason castro.) casey james' appeal is similarly older-skewing. and then there's the whole protracted kris/adam battle (which i would call 'last year's' but which is still going on!), which was DEFINITELY fought more among these women than among the tweens.
i mean i definitely think female contestants are at a disadvantage. (do you really think that alex lambert got fewer votes than paige miles a few months back? and yet he was sent home for reasons of top-12 gender parity.) but it's definitely not just the kids who are responsible for this split.
Maura- I hear you about the older women. They are an important demographic. Adam Lambert for instance was fueled by women of post-cougar age. And the grandama's favor the archuletas and the aarons, certainly.
But i really believe that texting has changed everything and skewed things much more to the tweens. In my years reporting, ive asked the question to voters over and over, how many votes did you cast. Any normal adult excited about the contest will cast 5 -10 votes and get bored. An obsessed cougar will maybe cast a couple dozen votes. The tweens, i have seen it in action, will text votes over and over and over for the entire two hour voting period and not stop. No adult can compete with that.
Idols demos in order of Power:
- Tweens
- Cougars
- Grandmas
- Post-cougar ladies
- Gays
- Teens
- Me
But isn't there some sort of family compliance in that, in terms of who is paying for those texts? Maybe the tweens are just the technological reps for the entire family's candidate (being that AI is still a "family-friendly" show), like the whole family watches together, picks a team, and the tween gets to text 85 times because Mom & Dad say it's okay (and they can't be bothered with all that stuff). Someone like Archuleta, for example, would probably be a kid-tested, Mom & Dad approved text-a-thon candidate in terms of being a contestant that fits the teen idol/good clean fun conservative household model, no?
Your point about the older women voting on Idol is part of a larger (and honestly, really creepy) trend of women having crushes on guys young enough to be their sons. As someone who falls in this demographic, I'm constantly perplexed by the Archuleta-Lautner-Radcliffe mania exhibited by my peers.
(Maura, great NPR segment on Nikki Minaj the other day, by the way! Hope to keep hearing you there.)
(thank you!!)
Bittersweet, Team Abs.
holy christ. they really are vicious animals. i had no idea.
Heh heh oh...
http://gawker.com/5527720/indiana-grandmother-is-having-a-new-baby-with-her-grandson
Richard!
Oh, Richard!
I agree
Just as it is simultaneously true that sexism exists and Hillary Clinton was a bad presidential candidate, the teen girl voting bloc of AI is an issue and it was Siobhan's time to go. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to see Aaron Kelly go a long time ago, but this suits me just fine. The screaming, dear god the screaming. I remember thinking during her performance of Think, "gurl it doesn't matter if you hit the high note if the tone is awful. you are not a Vision of Love," and she kept getting praised for what was essentially a party trick dragged out to make you forget how mediocre the other parts of her songs are. I mean, sure she's quirky looking, but would you have bought her album of musical theater dweebery and caterwauling?
whew. I'm just glad to get that off my chest.
p.s. People talk about the commercial viability of Michael Lynche, but people are always going to need makeout records and for many it's hard to sustain a boner to Iron and Wine.
p.p.s. her "Through the Fire" is what made me go from love to hate, if you're wondering.
"people are always going to need makeout records and for many it's hard to sustain a boner to Iron and Wine."
THIS
I think in talking about the early years of idol vs. now you're forgetting how much the girls and the guys have changed. I mean, they put in the gender parity thing because season 3 was nothing but girls and George Huff, because those guys were all either Ruben, or Clay Aiken Vegas/Bway types (as much as Simon tried to keep them out). The girls, otoh, were divas with a capital D, and Randy would overpraise them, etc.
But then Bo showed up, and behind him a rising tide of rocker boys who decided that if Daughtry could do it so could they, and they actually were a good challenge to the diva.
And now this year we have no divas whatsoever, but indie chicks, and as Lilly said, people who love indie chicks are not watching Idol (unless they are paid to do so by one or more internet outlets).
So teen girls, yes. Older ladies, yes. (Though the usual "let's pretend two of the idols are in love" isn't happening this year, strangely, and that seems to have muted the whole thing.) But the difference between seasons 1-3 and now is really thanks to Bo.
TheAwl: come for bear videos; leave to avoid the internal dialogues.
If I must be subjected to American Idol I prefer it to be filtered through Richard and Natasha. Thank you! That said, I am at a disadvantage as I am not down with the lingo. Where can I buy this font of resentment and fascist control impulses--will it work on a pc?
I was really happy the pictures had alt-text with their names.
Can't say I'm sad about any of this. If you feel you were treated unfairly on a game show for kids where a recording contract is the prize you could always try to become famous in the biz the old fashioned way, by working Hard, singing to empty rooms and having your dreams and your art shit on by anyone with an opinion and those cherished money men (and women) who only see your talent as an investment to be returned upon 10+ fold. American idol can kiss my natural black ass as can anyone who whines about losing on that horse shit cartoon show. I've tried to stomach this B.S. but watching an updated version of the cast Kids Incorporated Murder good songs week in week out is just too goddamn much for me... because I love Music.
I really don't want to sound like one of those "I don't even have a TV" pricks (also, I don't have a TV) but I am kind of shocked that there are adult aged people out there who pay attention to this stuff.
i suggest returning to your library framed in rich mahogany and filled with leather-bound books.
LMBAO! +1000
That I not once stopped reading to thank the universe that I no longer date a girl who forces me to watch Idol with her boring-ass musical theater aficionado friends is a testament to how entertaining a read this was. In fact...it kind of made me miss the show. Not enough to put up with awkward product placement and the lame song choices and the shots of tween screaming their hymens out to actually go back to watching it, but still, for a moment, I missed it.
The long and the short of it is that Siobhan was just AWFUL. That's all. Absolutely nothing appealing about her in any sense.
Even more important (for the tween girls, of course, but really for anyone) is that she clearly had absolutely no humility. Humility can make up for a whole lotta sin on AI. But Siobhan, her awful screeching and breathy everything else, and her sense of entitlement just never got that.
I think Siobhan went home b/c ppl were sick of her schreeching and lack of identity as an artist
First things first, Lee Dewyze cannot win. He cannot win because I will not let him win, I will vote against him like a hard heavy rain of anti-Dewyze, and I will cleanse the stage of his regrettable face foliage.
Siobhan needed to go home and I'll tell you why: while I would like to be her best friend and while I definitely would pressure to let me record her singing everything Allison Iraheta ever performed and then sell it and become her manager, her lower register is lacking. She needed to sing in a higher register. She needed some more B-12 to get her a little more FREAKIN AMPED!!!! is my personal take. The other thing that hurt her is not seeming abjectly destroyed and emotional when getting bad feedback from the judges, which more than once has compelled me to pity-dial for contestants. Her strength was her weakness. You think 12-year-old Gorey fans could have watched her cry without picking up the phone? Tweens need to see you feel, potential Idols. They want to see you shatter.
Bowersox made a smart move in breaking down to cry at her own performance. It wasn't calculated necessarily -- it seemed so genuine -- but she was an example of someone who read between the lines of the judges' critiques. She was coming off as too secure, the stakes weren't high enough, and she didn't seem like she was being competitive enough. On Idol, there are two ways to show how serious you are about the competition: the Adam Lambert route, by blowing everyone away with insane Bowie glam-rock numbers that imply you spent twice as much time getting your act together, literally, as everyone else; then there's the "I really want this" route, which you could see in Archuleta's fearful, beautifully symmetric eyes as he forgot the lyrics to "We Can Work It Out."
Tweens, and I, just want to see a person win the competition who's either in need (desperate! Boatloads of dependent orphans and a mother with glaucoma!)or who, by sheer force of commitment, blows everyone else out of the water. You hit it with the authenticity remark, the nose for phonies: the only way American Idol works as entertainment is if we're seeing dreams smashed to bits. Just like seventh grade, but with Simon Cowell.
Tess, thanks to your thoughtful and accurate comment I promise speak up in your defense when the Purity trials begin. But I do not know if I can protect when the traitors are lined up against the wall.
VOTE DEWYZE!!! 143 143!!
Tess, i think you need to prepare yourself for the Dwyze administration. I share your concerns but this is what haoppens when we let democracy run amok
Wait..what? You mean to tell me these aren't virgin artists?
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LeeDeWyze
Sorry - not "seduced" by Kris Allen. He's cute and has a decent, generic-type voice - but that's about it.
There are three problems with this Tween theory:
1. It only explains (at best) why out of the bottom three, contestant Z goes home before contestants X and Y,
2. It ignores the contestants at the top of the pack who are getting the most votes.
3. It implies that tweens are getting rid of contestants they find threatening or don't like. Of course, that's contrary to the way Idol voting works - people vote for the contestants they like; no one has the power to derail a contestant that they hate. (Until the finale.)
On the first point, I agree that tweens have power, but they are a minority constituency. Look at any ratings breakdown for Idol. Idol is not a kids show; it's the 30 - 50 year olds that are watching (i.e. parents). True, the tweens text more so they have more say than their raw numbers would indicate. But adults text as well. I am "of a certain age" and I text and e-mail many times more that I phone these days. And in last year's finale I sent thousands of votes for my favorite. The point is that adults text as well and there are a heck of a lot more of us in the audience.
As I said, tweens have power - but it is more around the edges. If there are several people in the bottom, they can be the deciding factor in lifting their favorite just out of danger. But of course, their power diminishes with fewer contestants. So (like all minority constituencies) they have their greatest effect early in the season.
Second point: If the tweens are so all powerful, how come their contestants keep sliding down to the bottom three every week? Tim Urban was in the bottom - what, five times? And of course he is now gone. Aaron Kelly has been in the bottom twice (that we know of). And yet, adult favorites Crystal and Lee have never been in the bottom. Crystal has probably been one of, if not the top vote-getter all season. What does that say about the power of the tweens vs. the power of the adults when the tween favorites are always near the bottom, while the adult favorites are always near the top? Your theory concentrates on explaining which one of the weak bottom dwellers goes home on a given week, and ignores the powerful forces that keep the top contestants aloft.
Finally, you are ascribing to the tweens the power to kill off contestants that they don't like. But you know perfectly well that's not the way the Idol voting system works. You vote for the person(s) that you want to stay. It doesn't matter if the tweens hate Siobhan with the fury of a thousand suns, they have no mechanism to kick her off. The only thing that counts is how much a singer is loved; how much they are hated is irrelevant (again, the finale is the exception). You say that Crystal is still alive in the competition because the powerful tweens find her inoffensive - but they will kill her eventually. That does not at all explain where the votes are coming from that are keeping Crystal at the top of the pack. Somebody lurvs Crystal, and whoever it is seems to be consistently overpowering your tweens.
In short, Tween theory doesn't hold water. As a matter of fact, substitute gays for tweens and your theory plays out exactly the same way. So, maybe it's they gays with all that disposable income and time that keep the pretty boys afloat?
Whatever theory you come up with it has to explain the cream at the top, not the skim milk at the bottom of the jar.