Due to popular demand I’ve opened a new gallery of Haley Scarnato photos starring her green dress from April 3. Bonus: a complete Haley Scarnato video available.
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Haley Scarnato - American Idol Top 9 Performance Video April 3, 2007
Check out the rest of our American Idol coverage.
Posted on: Thursday, April 5, 2007
April 10th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
I suppose it’s , “Hey, Matt & Walt”……..
It is high time that an Idol authority comes to the defense of an undeservingly-dissed Haley Scarnato. Below is an excerpt from an Idol website. I’d appreciate your thoughts on the issues I will outline.
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American Idol producer, Ken Warwick, held a conference call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon. Here are some highlights:
About Haley, “I think she’s a good-looking kid, I think she’s got a very good voice; I think she was given a really bad rap by Simon earlier. If you want my opinion, I think she still deserves to be there…She’s quite a shy girl, that’s the problem. She’s not one that’s in your face all the time, but she’s a lovely kid. I love her and she looks great on stage and she’s got a great voice, I don’t care what Simon Says. I’d love to see more of her legs anytime.”
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Two points of contention.
First, Simon exerts undue influence on virtually everyone……and I find the entire AI reality TV reporting domain to be populated—collectively, as there are some exceptions—by overly impressionable writers who—through their weekly performance commentaries and numerous other apologist/antagonist recitations—succumb to Simon’s often-biased and manipulative exhortations…..pro and con each contestant.
The subject writer/contributors who are formally musically trained shamelessly relinquish such credentials—faux or otherwise—in favor of dancing to the beat of a Brit pied piper…..for they are who make the world of AI web reporting a bigger sham (than the producer-induced Sanjaya-types ever could perpetrate)…….to the detriment of otherwise talented contestants, but for whom the Simon blessing has been denied.
Second, of the talented contestants put thru to the semifinals, poor Haley (and Gina) have received the brunt of Simon’s tears-inducing scowls. Ken Warwick is absolutely correct in that Haley (and Gina) got a bad rap from the beginning…….and a she-sucks bandwagon, built on Simon’s purposeful urgings, was quickly jumped on by identity-challenged me-too web writers.
I stand firmly with Ken Warwick in that Haley has a really nice voice, and is deserving of advancing further than she is being given credit for. Haley has the voice, style, appearance, star quality, stage presence and marketablility—a package unmatched by any of the other contestants. Without the Simon factor, Haley could—as a performer/entertainer—finish as high as third (and if Taylor can win it all, I suppose all things are possible).
It is imperative to discern that there are as many, if not more, detractors to Haley’s onstage sensuality than are drawn by it……..as Idol machinations make it clear misogynysts in its viewing audience are in abundance, as well as a prevalence of your usual girl-on-girl malevolence
Given the predominance of repetitive-dialing teeny-girls, and the preponderance of adult female voters, a talented and attractive contestant of the gentler sex is burdened as such—unless of the Carrie and Kat caliber—and are therefore inequitably disadvantaged.
Simon (with Dippity and Doo) giveth……but it is Simon who taketh away. Simon and Idol producers decide on the direction Idol should take…..and Simon dumps on the unsuspecting victims during the formative stages of the semifinals……framing and shapeshifting viewer images of the contestants in accordance with Idol designs……and/or to further enhance Simon’s indispensability as Mr American Idol himself……if only as a Brit edition.
mwjade
April 10th, 2007 at 10:51 pm
Miranda:
First of all I would like to say that I was a huge Gina fan (much to my wife’s chagrin). I don’t think Haley is a bad singer. Certainly Phil and Sanjaya both deserve to go home before she does (Although Gina should have won!). I agree that she has stepped it up the past several weeks and she has done more than any other contestant to do so but, by the same token some of her earlier performances when fans were picking their favorites for the season were not strong. I think you’re right that Simon may have tainted the audience against her. His job is to give his opinion, whether we agree or not, then we have the opportunity to say he’s wrong by voting. The biggest problem she faces isn’t Simon, its the Jordan-Melinda-LaKisha triade. I’m not sure her singing holds up against those three. Which in my opinion is too bad. Yes the put in good performances week after week but frankly thats boring to me. I always root for the underdog so I’m hoping one of the others can really step it up and beat those three. I don’t think Haley stands a chance in the end but good luck to her.
Would you mind if we posted your email as a comment? I think there are a lot of other who may agree with you or at least find your opinion interesting (I did). If your not comfortable with that, no big deal.
-Walt
P.S. You do have to admit she does have nice legs too : )
April 10th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Hey Walt,
Thanks for your response. Yes, you may post my original email as a
comment…..and this subsequent one, if you wish.
I’d like to do the little I can to kind of jolt some people—particularly
the ones who engage in performance commentaries for AI—into the
realization that they are, indeed, often fed and led like the energizer
bunny by one indomitable, but oh-so-self-indulgent Brit. And it is he who
ironically decrees some contestants guilty of the very same aggrandizing
tilt which is reflective of the Cowell persona.
One only needs to witness the extent to which web writers replicate Simon’s
sentiments to discern the extent of his dominion over a sizable segment of
the viewing audience (except perhaps those who favor the Sanjaya-type
contestants). Simon’s irreverence, and many times impertinent remarks,
often bode ominously over those he disfavors—for whatever reason, and it
is not all talent-related. And it obviously works the other way as well.
I’ve heard lame defenses from many web writers, such as “Simon is usually
right, which is why I agree with him most of the time”. To which I say,
“bull, reverse the process—first, make up your own unadulterated
judgement of a contestant’s performance, then see if Simon agrees with you”
(i.e., mute the tv sound and scribe your thoughts after a performance, then
match it up with what Simon says on the playback). And this should take
place from the beginning, before Simon gets to you about each contestant.
I do not often agree with Simon……which is the principal reason I detest
the dubious outcomes of his manipulative and calculated impressions……or
worse, misimpressions. And I hate for anyone to be victimized
unsuspectingly and undeservingly, as I believe Haley (and Gina) have been.
I don’t believe the “triad” will hold to the end. Melinda is one of the
best pure vocalists ever to grace the Idol platform, and will probably win
it, although she tends to be unexciting, and her “near-perfect”
performances can yield an increasing level of ennui. Melinda does not have
“it” to draw me to a concert……listen to her CD perhaps, but not watch
her perform. Lakisha is also a fabulous singer, but her limited appeal will
do her in deeper into the competition (top 5?). Jordin has the raw talent
to either sneak in there, or flub a performance and flub her chances as
well.
As for Haley, again, if Taylor can win it all……and he is at best an
ordinary vocalist with an ordinary voice…….anything can happen,
although the Simon factor has already precluded that possibility.
Haley—and Gina—were both tender-hearted and vulnerable, which drew me
to them…….and each has far more talent than they are being given credit
for. And I prefer underdogs…….longer odds make for a more rewarding
experience, don’t you think?
Thanks again for listening, and any feedback you may care to send would be
welcome.
mwjade
P.S. I do think that Haley has great legs…..and I can empathize with her
being maligned for who she is.
April 11th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I read your comments with great interest. Your insight into the ritual “dumping” on Haley drew a sigh of relief from me. I was beginning to believe that I was the only one who saw this obvious set-up. First, let me say that I am a vocalist(who’s had some nominal success in years past), and I currently work with Haley in a band. I know her to be exactly how she was described by that associate producer—a girl who is a bit shy. She’s a girl who doesn’t get into the drama that sometimes surrounds a stage, and is totally unaware of her magnetic sexuality. It has been so difficult for those of us who know and love her and know the scope of her talent, to see her blasted week after week. And by the way, Haley IS a very good singer. She’s a raw talent who is ripe for grooming. I believe an experienced producer can make her into a much bigger star than any one of the other girls on AI this season. Of course, the other girls can sing beautifully and I’ve become a fan of Melinda and LaKisha. But they are, in my opinion, more genre specific–R&B. It is unfair to pit the style of an adept and talented R&B singer against a pop genre vocalist and say one is talented and the other is not. It’s relative. Of course Haley isn’t the powerhouse R&B that those girls are, but that doesn’t mean she is without talent as Simon and his cohorts would make us believe. With all this said, I understand AI’s wanting to slant the production—after all, the selling of a successful CD is tantamount to their success as a show and they have their opinions on how to achieve that. But I think, were I Simon, I might try to be a bit more subtle than these obvious badly cloaked prejudices from one set/style of contestant to another. Let the vocals stand on their own and if we’re supposed to be the finite judges, then let us judge without the crude and sexist remarks that have become his trademark responses to Haley’s performances. No woman (or man, for that matter) should have to be subjected to personal remarks that are intended to belittle and humiliate onstage in a national arena. “You’ve got great legs,” and “”…choose the right tactic….come out here with very little clothes on…” are comments that are teetering very precariously on the edge of sexual harrassment. Just a thought here—is Cowel perhaps a long-lost relative of Don Imus? Seems their disrespect of women are somewhat related.
April 13th, 2007 at 2:00 am
I think Haley Scarnato is the most beautiful woman in the world! She is so beautiful and so nice and sweet! She is absolutely wonderful, and its too bad that she was kicked off idol. She should have won it all! I love her and i am in love with her. I would do anything for that gorgeous honey! I think about her all the time. I love you Haley, and i know you will go very far in your life and career!
April 14th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I will miss seeing Haley too. Over all best of the ladies. Not best singer but over all.