Did Evangelical Christian Vote Make Kris Allen 'American Idol'?

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UPDATE at end of post: Kris apparently won by a large margin.

On Tuesday, NewsBuster Tim Graham asked readers: "Will whoever wins ["American Idol"] be seen as the winner on the musical merits? Or will it become a political/cultural narrative?"

A day after favorite Adam Lambert surprisingly lost, FoxNews.com asked, "Did The Evangelical Christian Vote Push Kris Allen Over The Edge?"

Interesting question. Here's the author's premise (h/t Hot Air, video of Allen being interviewed on "Fox & Friends" embedded below the fold):

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The 23-year-old UCA student has been on the worship team at New Life Church for years and helps with their outreach programs, but unlike previous winners such as Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood who made their faith very well known, Allen consciously refrained from making mention of his virtuous values throughout the competition.

"This is a singing competition, not a church thing," Allen told Tarts earlier this week while Lambert added that the "vote is based on talent and performing, not religion." [...]

According to an 'Idol' insider, support for Kris most likely surged over the last week when Danny Gokey (who was extremely open about his involvement with the church) was voted off and thus Christians turned their full devotion to Allen who epitomizes the all-American, talented and moralistic role model.

Allen's surprise win may have also been a reflection of the growing market for Christian music. The Gospel Music Association recently reported that Christian/Gospel recorded music sales stand at almost half a billion annually and digital album sales were up 38 percent in 2008, while digital tracks were up over 37 percent.

"Churches go crazy with support! Thousands of churches twittering and facebooking! It's been a blast," Bezet also told us.

Somehow this seems an angle most media outlets will avoid at all costs, dontcha think?

*****Update: Kris apparently won by a large margin.

Kris Allen picked up the “American Idol” title on Wednesday night, and while it may have shocked some media pundits who were expecting an Adam Lambert victory, a source close to the show revealed the final vote was not even close.

A top FOX source told Access Hollywood that the vote left Kris as the clear winner by a large margin. 

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.


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I can only imagine if the

I can only imagine if the voting had gone the other way how the MSM would be using it as a barometer of “how far we have come” and by extension a reinforcement of how America got it right by electing Barry Obama. They would have played the triumph of the Blue states to the hilt as a proxy of America’s sea change embrace of liberalism. Now that the voting has gone the other way they employ the Saul Alinsky tactic of discrediting the process. They dare not contemplate the resurgence of the Red states with midterm elections only 18 months away.

“how far we have come” - NOT

Tom, you nailed it.

How right you are

Payback, something the progressives alwasy over look.

There even seems to be in

There even seems to be in NB's coverage some questioning of the right of Christians to participate in a deliberative process (such as this is).  To even cast the question along the lines of, "what are thos Christians up to now?"  merely reinforces the lefty frontal assault on religious people and on Christians.

No, it merely reinforces

No, it merely reinforces that the left is assaulting religious people. 

 

 Take the 'I am not a racist' pledge  http://iamnotaracist.wordpress.com/  

Wait, what? This post

Wait, what? This post reinforces that the left is assaulting religious people?

Here's a question: Is the idea that pro-Christian votes decided the winner mean that there was an anti-gay vote that decided the winner? 

This Post?

Bal,

As a casual observer (I'm currently in my underwear and you can't get more casual than that using the library computer for Internet Access) here is my ''Media Assault List'':

Bush

Cheney

Palin

Rove

Conservatives

Republicans

Ann Coulter

Catholics

Christianity

Joe the Plumber

The 'assaults' are usually daily and relentless from various media sources. Some are couched or hidden as ''valid'' polling metrics or ''opinions''. This post, does indeed, meet my criteria of religion bashing by the media. And I currently seem to be an expert at bashing.

To answer your 'redirection question' pertaining to gays(??), how cool do you think Hussein really is?

Okay, speaking of cool, my ass just felt a breeze so I think it's time I vacate the library now.

OH, and . . .

. . . My wife, The Lovely FrankenFrau (Or Mrs. Doktor) believes that Adam Lambert was robbed. And she knows a thing or two about things.

God Bless them....

Christians like music too:)  And if it pokes Satan in the eye, more's the better:)

Kris won, Adam didn't

That Kris "won" and Adam "lost" means that Adam came in second. That's means a whole lot of people liked him. Kathrine McPhee came in second too, and so did Clay Aiken. I can't remember who Fantasia beat out, or Jordon Sparks. I don't remember who Carrie Underwood beat out.

Kris will have a great career and so will Adam. It's a win-win.

 

I've read quite a bit about

I've read quite a bit about this and have concluded that there are a number of reasons why this contest ended up this way.

In terms of pure singing, Kris Allen actually is a better singer while Adam Lambert is a more theatrical entertainer, which excited people.

Kris Allen was the family values boy next door while Adam Lambert was certainly not.

This is American Idol - not Beverly Hills Idol. In the USA country music is actually more popular than other genres.

The Gay issue probably had some role in it but I don't think it was a determining factor.

Having said that, depending on the event, I would sooner pay money to see Lambert than Allen myself.

Gat... That's a fair

Gat...

That's a fair breakdown, but I have another insight.

What put Kris over the top was the 'screaming young girl crowd'. But the gay issue did have an effect on those girls. If you notice, the first week Adam was in the bottom three was the week that the info got out concerning his sexual orientation. The 'screaming young girl crowd' then moved en masse over to Kris, and Kris was already a favorite of the 'screaming young girls crowd'. Finally, it was the 'screaming young girl crowd' that voted over, and over, and over, and over, and over. They simply outspent the competition. I know because my granddaughter lost count after voting 12 times at $1 dollar per vote. That's one phone bill I'm not looking forward to.

 

 Take the 'I am not a racist' pledge  http://iamnotaracist.wordpress.com/  

Clear

After watching all this unfold my opinion, which may not count for much, was that Adam was an arrogant a-hole. I don't like arrogant a-holes. Some may have seen the same thing. You are also right. The bubble gum popping teenie boppers are probably the biggest reason. I heard one girl voted 4500 times. Boy is daddy going to be mad over that.

*Bubble gum popping teenie boppers are a term from my youth. They used to scream like that at the Beatles. Made me sick.

Semper suprene nitens

Good Grief

Paranoia, of all kinds, but especially religious, is deep-seeded in the sick, sad, twisted minds of the liberal media that would even dream up this kind of garbage propaganda - let alone actually voice it or put it down on paper.

Gotta feel sad for these emotionally damaged liberals.  Delusionville must be a lonely, lonely, cold and dark place.

Did they get enough hugs and love and children?  Don't think so.

Hey it's Fox News! Fair and

Hey it's Fox News! Fair and balanced.

Balboa, your comment about

Balboa, your comment about Fox News makes about as much sense as the liberals' misuse of the term "Evangelical" to mean anything other than what are really just average, every day Americans who attend church every once in a while.

A nation cannot be free without a free, unbiased media. We are not free.

Right on!  Fox is about as

Right on!  Fox is about as fair a newsource you'll ever find. I watch it all the time and I love how they trash liberals!

I watch it all the time and I love how they trash liberals!

Rimshot

GO CAVS!!!!!

→ Don't care goldbar

I recognize FOX has a conservative slant to it.  I don't deny it.  The rest of TV Media leans left.  I don't deny that either.

 

  • General Motors - You get what we pay for

 

My take

First of all, from what I've read, no one knows whether Lambert is gay or not.

Second, as many have pointed out, Lambert made it to no. 2. If there were
anti-gay bias, it's doubtful he would have made it that far.

Third, conservative and/or Christian Americans have long tolerated and even embraced gay entertainers. Liberace, anyone? There is
a difference in that in the past gay entertainers kept it pretty much
in their bedrooms, but then Lambert--if he is gay--is doing the same
thing.

Fourth, American Idol voting allows unlimited votes from
each individual. As long as you're willing to pay for it, you can vote
a thousand times if you want to. That's undoubtedly what happened here. It's extremely unlikely in my mind that it was due to Christians
being somehow desperate for their guy to win. I'm a conservative
Christian myself, and I couldn't give a flying you-know-what who won
that contest. More likely it was teenage girls from Arkansas who were
behind the "upset."

But leaving all that aside, what I find hilarious in all the accusations of Christian "homophobia" is the suggestion that militant gays and other lefties would never, ever,
vote their Christophobia. That's not only absurd on its face for anyone who hasn't been in a coma for the last several decades, there's even a recent, notorious, and public example: Perez Hilton. 

VFTW.COM

There are pictures on the internet showing Adam Lambert french kissing with other males. Looks gay to me. You can find them on the vote for the worst website (vftw.com).

The pictures have been on the internent for a long time. Not just 3 weeks ago as an above poster wrote.

Observation

To say that it was christians that put it over the top does two things:

negates this kid's real talent & devalues him

shows hypocrisy of conservatives

if this kid has real talent, then Americans, regardless of religion, would/should have voted him the winner, just like saying if the other guy won it's cause he's gay, who cares, neither need be a criteria.

if conservatives had such issue with Miss CA NOT winning because she was christian & made her views known, it seems a bit hypocritical to turn around and act in the very way conservatives despised about another contest - NOT voted because of christian background

"Hypocrisy of Conservatives"?

I don't quite get you're analogy.

If it was a "values-based" vote, then that's what it was. "All of America" wasn't voting in the Miss USA pageant. It was a select group of Hollyweird types. Definitely not the same.

And, it doesn't really seem to be the "Christians" who are saying the AI thing was a "Christian" win. It's the folks on the other side that "blaming" the Christian vote for Adam's loss.

Can you show me where the "hypocrisy" is?

Ed Coyne

www.PoliCalc.com

KRIS ALLEN ROCKS!

I love the way Kris Allen sings.  I like the sound.

And most of all... Kris Allen sang my wife's favorite song..

FALLING SLOWLY.

From our favorite movie....... ONCE.

I don't care about the other contestants. 

It's like going to the market:  You take what you need and forget the rest.

 

Oh... I'm sorry. I don't believe in all those political stuff. 

 

Let's Not Leave Anything Out

Are we all leaving out the fact that AI seemed to have been "pulling" for Adam to win? Did no one catch Simon soliciting votes, specifically for Adam? Did no one see the cape that Katie Perry(sp) wore? The fact that she was allowed to wear that tells me that AI was pulling for Adam.

"Let's try to make people think that EVERYONE agrees with Adam's lifestyle."

Bottom line: Hollywood is NOT America. I knew, weeks ago, that Adam wouldn't win, just for that reason.

Ed Coyne

www.PoliCalc.com