By Sohyung Kang
The biggest news to come out of last night's episode of "American Idol" was not that Matt Giraud was eliminated (for the third time this season — yawn and farewell), but that Adam Lambert shockingly landed in the bottom three. While I'm sure many Lambert fans are busy wailing in agony and disbelief over the travesty, wondering how this could have possibly happened, I can think of at least five reasons.
1. Voter complacency. Adam fans likely thought all the other Adam fans were doing the voting, so they chose to spend their Tuesday night watching his YouTube videos on repeat instead of actually voting for him. Meanwhile, after Simon's harsh and unnecessary jab at Allison Iraheta, Allison fans probably spent all night furiously voting to keep their girl alive. But after last night's wake-up call, this issue will be permanently resolved. Grieving Adam fans, haunted by the shock bootings of Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson in the past, will make sure to burn their fingers off speed-dialing and texting their votes on the Tuesdays to come.
2. He's not as popular as we think he is. Maybe America does not, in fact, enjoy their windows shattering every time he comes onstage for his weekly screamfests. Maybe people aren't interested in buying a CD of Adam shrieking for a period of time longer than Freddie Prinze Jr.'s career. It's true that Adam is the most talked-about contestant on "Idol," with people Googling him as often as they go to the bathroom, but that may not necessarily mean that he is the most liked. Much of his buzz is credited to how polarizing he is. As Simon stated earlier in the season, people either love Adam or hate him.
3. God forbid this is true, but Danny Gokey may actually be the front-runner. Hokey Gokey has a wider variety of fans. He's at least got the middle-age vote, the sympathy vote, the conservative Midwesterner vote, the Christian vote and the people-with-no-discernible-taste vote locked up in a chest with a key.
4. Least probable, but the judges' inarticulate critiques of his performance may have cost him some votes. Randy slammed him for being too theatrical. Paula, although she meant well, likened him to Michael Phelps. Kara called him sleazy and confusing. And Simon compared him to a cow. These aren't exactly the most flattering reviews.
5. Rumors of his sexuality have lost him the tween-girl vote to Kris Allen. The tween girls with the fantasy of winning the heart of the pop idol by the might of their perfect fan devotion would rather set their sights on a married man than a man who'd never be interested in them — and never, ever underestimate the power of the tween-girl vote.
What do you think? Is Adam actually not as well-liked as we think he is? Leave a comment below.