Red State Idol

This is pretty funny. For once, I have to accept that I share the Kos' elitist attitudes towards something. For the life of me, I cannot understand the attraction to American Idol. In my less than humble opinion, the show is watered-down, saccharinized, fluff that does little more for me than invoke a great, big, YAWN. I do find it interesting, however, that so may Idol-finalists have been from the state of Alabama (Ruben, Diana DeGarmo, Bo and now Taylor) and other red-states (Kelly C. - TX, Clay - NC, Carrie - OK, and Fantasia - NC) (Side note: I looked all of these people up and no, I did not know their names off the top of my head). That is wicked weird. Surely people residing in the red-states are not more talented than their blue-state brothers and sisters?? Well, what then? Here is my take: since the Idol winners are selected by the voting audience, I am guessing that it has something to do with viewership in the red-states. Could it be that the remoteness and general rural nature of the red-states has an effect? Perhaps the less than attenuated connection to the music industry leaves this class of voters at the mercy of the Clear Channel-esque, media manipulators of the world? Obviously the obscurities of progressive culture don't make it far outside of the hipster-rich, blue metropolises of America?? Call it a culture gap. I think I would like to see a breakdown in Idol viewership by state or region. Man, maybe I should write for the New Yorker...