Sunday was Disney Night on American Idol, but the Idol soundstage wasn’t exactly the Happiest Place on Earth. Why?
Because after the top 10 performed and the real-time live votes were tallied, the season’s only two black contestants, Uché and Dimitrius Graham, went home.
This brings us to the question. Is American Idol Racist?
First lets take a look at what people are saying on Twitter.
#AmericanIdol #DisneyNight #Racist #Fake #Rigged #Bogus I am going to reprogram my DVR to NOT record any of the remaining shows because @AmericanIdol has proven they are RACIST and this whole show was a shameless plug for @Disney why were the only two black guys in the bottom 2? https://t.co/DI4ge2di7b
— Obiwan Doodlebopp (@gdawg_11) April 22, 2019
@AmericanIdol really never changes. The POC go first. Especially ones with a more R&B background. @thisismeechi was the best singer in that competition. I should have known this was going to happen since they eliminated most of the black girls before the live shows #americanidol
— Side-Eye Moody (@Kia_Michelle) April 22, 2019
@AmericanIdol @LionelRichie @katyperry @LukeBryanOnline @RyanSeacrest WHAT THE HECK DID Y’ALL JUST DO?? Y’all can’t eliminate @UcheSings and @thisismeechi on #AmericanIdol #DisneyNight on #EasterSunday! This is the worst elimination of black men since the Atlanta Super Bowl 🙅🏽♂️🙅🏾♂️
— Brian J. 🇺🇸🌊☔️♓️ (@SuperboyJohnson) April 22, 2019
And then there were other, equally passionate fans arguing that it was unfair and incorrect to play the “race card” in this case.
was dreading getting on twitter after hearing tonight’s results. two black men being voted off does not mean american idol is racist! https://t.co/aASjbbe20S
— leah brooke (@_leahthomas13) April 22, 2019
Why do people always have to racism into this?Dimetrius did not pull in the crowd his facial expression was bland that’s why Americans did not vote for him I didn’t vote for him and I am a black skin beautiful woman #AmericanIdol
— Simone Loudres (@monidimple) April 22, 2019
American Idol is not a racial issue people. If you can sing, you’ll do well. If not, you’ll be eliminated. That goes for black, white, purple, pink, & green people
— Mama👑 (@_kylieediiane) April 22, 2019
It’s hard to know for sure just how much race affected the fates of Uché and Dimitrius. This was, undeniably, a déjà vu situation. American Idol has historically been a conservative program, with 12 of the past 16 winners being white, and nine of those winners being white men. (The term “WGWG,” or “White Guy With Guitar,” even became an Idol trope after David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery, and Phillip Phillips consecutively won in Seasons 7 through 11.) We all remember how viewers never accepted Season 12 judge Nicki Minaj, or how just last season, most of the contestants of color (Michelle Sussett, Dennis Lorenzo, Ada Vox, and Jurnee) went home in quick succession. To say that race wasn’t a factor at all this week would be naive.
But there could have been other reasons why Uché and Dimitrius never connected with the Idol audience. (Both singers only even made it into the top 10 as the judges’ wild card picks last week, after they failed to secure the public vote on top 14 night.) Uché, a.k.a. “Mr. Entertainment,” was this season’s most dynamite performer, but his confidence and swagger could easily be mistaken for arrogance (the ultimate kiss of death on Idol, a show whose core audience once preferred Kris Allen to Adam Lambert). And Uché’s huge personality was, as judge Katy Perry once said, “a lot.” The operatically trained Dimitrius was one of the season’s finest technical vocalists and “the male Beyoncé,” but his lack of screentime (he was the only top 10 contestant whose full audition never aired) hurt him, and he was so quiet and so solemn that he had the opposite personality problem of Uché.
It’s a shame that neither singer continued in the competition, whatever the reason because they were both spectacular this Sunday.
