After watching one of my favorite American Idol contestants ever get voted off the show last night, I turned to Twitter to read what the good folks of the interweb thought about America’s decision. There were many Haley Reinhart supporters out there but also many detractors. Now, I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion about music especially since artistic preferences vary greatly. This is why Adele can thrive in the music world alongside folks like Kesha, Usher and the Black Eyed Peas. What disturbed me most about many of the negative comments I read about Haley was that people perceived her to be “bitchy, arrogant and/or mean.” This is when I felt my blood boil. Haley sang her butt off for the last few months with poise, self-assuredness and determination; attributes that should be celebrated not seen as negatives. She always seemed relaxed though understandably a little ticked off about the criticism that came her way after a few near flawless performances.
Meanwhile, Lauren Alaina has seemed nervous, hesitant and lacking in self-confidence throughout this competition. In an industry where one needs to have thick skin and a strong will to survive, I’m not sure if the 16-year-old has what it takes to do so. She nearly collapsed a few weeks ago at the first negative critique she’d received all season from the judges. I don’t want to knock Lauren because 1. I think she has a pretty voice and 2. I was much like she was at that age and couldn’t have imagined having the guts to audition for the show let alone get to where she has in the competition. However, I wish I could have been more like Haley; confident and totally comfortable with whom I was and what I was passionate about.
Why do we seem to want our music reality TV stars (especially the female ones) to have an “aw-shucks-I’m- not-really-that-good” demeanor? Why is it appealing to root for a girl who doesn’t seem to believe that she deserves to be there? Especially someone whose trajectory during the course of the Idol season has stayed pretty static compared to Haley who went out and performed like she owned the stage and continued to improve as the season went on?
Imagine if Beyonce, the epitome of a strong female pop icon, had sung “If you like it, could you maybe, but only if you’d like to, um, when you have the time, put a ring on it?” Is that what we want to teach our daughters to be? No wonder so many girls report a drop in self-esteem by the time they hit puberty. The messages they are getting from the world are “Don’t stand up for yourself. Don’t be too confident. Don’t show how smart you are.“ Is it any wonder that the way a lot of girls (and women) bond is by talking about how fat we are or how we can’t stand some other aspect of ourselves?
So maybe Haley cursed occasionally. The chick is a rock and roll musician. I’d be more concerned about her longevity in the business if she never let out the occasional f-bomb. She seems to be well liked by all the contestants including Lauren. She was not a robot as evidence by her tears brought on by the large audience response at her homecoming. And she really wanted to win as evidenced by her impassioned performances and her look of disappointment when her name wasn’t called last night.
I totally understand if you didn’t like Haley’s voice or music. But don’t call her a bitch because she acted like she deserved to win.
Check out Haley's final performance here: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/20/american-idol-haley-reinahart-final-performance/
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