The last couple of weeks Simon was all over TV praising Carrie to the hilt. Remember when he said she would win the competition and outsell all other AI winners? Remember also that I mentioned he created a backlash of sorts among the kids over on the AI boards when he said that?
Whatever Simon is up to, we can be sure of two thing: It's all about money, and he is very much aware that his critiques manipulate votes.
The AI competition is nothing more than a drawn-out market test. The producers and judges know something we don't, which is the breakdown of the vote totals. So who knows. If they see the trend moving toward a likely final paring (probably Carrie and Constantine this year), maybe they also try to push the votes toward the performer they think will be most marketable in the short run.
That's what it's all about for the producers. Make a killing on the show itself for as long as the run lasts. Also make a killing on the winner and, if possible, the runner up for about two years. After that, the smart and/or well-advised ones like Clay and Kelly go on to other opportunities.
Clay Aiken has proved that a contestant doesn't need to win AI in order to be successful afterwards. So you shouldn't worry abour Carrie either way. I just cannot imagine her not being in the finals. She deserves to win, but if all those pre-teen and teenage girls out there push Lt. Dan to the top, Carrie might actually be better off in the long run.
My theory < tin-foil hat on > is that Simon wants Constantine paired with Carrie in the finale so that the clear winner will be Carrie. He may assume that the voters won’t possibly crown Lt. Dan the next American Idol--not when the mega-talented Carrie is standing there like an angel sent from Heaven. < /tin-foil hat off > But who knows … If he wins then that’s AI’s problem, not Carrie’s. I’ll be buying her CD regardless.
She deserves to win, but if all those pre-teen and teenage girls out there push Lt. Dan to the top, Carrie might actually be better off in the long run.
That’s a good point. Don’t get me wrong, I want Carrie to win, but if she lost to that greaseball, then she would be free (relatively speaking) to create the CD that she wants, whereas Lt. Dan would be a slave to the whims of the AI producers and would have to churn out a collection of recordings that would be rushed to the Wal-Mart shelves by October. Carrie, on the other hand, would have a bit more time to choose and polish her material before it’s released—just as Clay did in 2003. And like him, she would no doubt enjoy similar record sales.