It had to happen eventually. Simon Cowell and I actually agree on one of his negative comments. Haley Scarnato gambled on impressing AI voters with her body instead of her voice and presentation Tuesday night. That gamble probably cost her her slot on the show.
Simon put it this way:
"I think you have a very good tactic, at the moment, Haley: Wear as least amount of clothes as possible. Because ... look, and I'll be honest with you, you can't do well in this competition based on your voice because there are much better singers. So all you can do is ... it's true ... so, all you can do is have fun."
As you know, Haley has long, flowing, thick brunette hair, vibrant facial expressions, soulful eyes and a smile that can melt your heart. So, why would someone with enough talent to get into the Final 8 and so much natural beauty feel that she had to "slut things up" to compete?
This gets to the heart of why I think American Idol STINKS: The show so often emphasizes all of the wrong attributes about people. The best (worst?) examples are the audition episodes, which seem to exist only to humiliate contestants whose family members obviously can't stand them, otherwise they would never let their loves ones audition for a national talent competition. Those episodes also seem to be geared toward letting Simon get as much of his meanness as possible out of his system before the Final 24 begins, and pushing the limits of Paula's syrup-laden ability to criticize without being critical.
But, throughout the season, AI pushes the contestants - at least the ones who fit into society's Barbie and Ken concept of what's "beautiful" - to be more sexual. Where does that leave someone who most people would not consider "hot," but who has an awesome voice?
What does it mean for someone like Haley who has a good voice, but whose vocals aren't setting the world on fire? It means she ends up on stage in a see-through top and a pair of short shorts that probably cover less of her body than her pajamas.
Episodes like this are why AmericanIdolSTINKS.com exists - to point to someone who actually possesses the atributes we all should idolize. Read more about him here.