American Idol: Which region has the most talent?

By Leverkuhn Comments (10) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Watching American Idol has got me thinking about something. Which region of the United States has the most musical talent? With that question in mind I did a little research into the backgrounds of the contestants on American Idol, season six. What I disovered is that there seems to be a slight imbalance in favor of the South this year, and a considerable imbalance in favor of California. Here are the top 24 contestants as revealed in last night's final Hollywood episode:

Chris Sligh, 28, Greenville, S.C.*
Sanjaya Malakar, 17, Federal Way, Wash.
Brandon Rogers, 29, Los Angeles (originally from Texas)*+
Philip Stacy, 29, Jacksonville, Fla.*
Blake Lewis, 25, Bothell, Wash.
Rudy Cardenas, 28, Los Angeles (originally from Venezuela)+
Paul Kim, 25, Saratoga, Calif.+
A.J. Tabaldo, 22, Santa Maria, Calif.+
Nicholas Pedro, 25, Taunton, Mass.
Chris Richardson, 22, Chesapeake, Va.*
Jared Cotter, 25, West Orange, N.J.
Jason "Sundance" Head, 28, Porter, Texas.*

Melinda Doolittle, 29, Brentwood, Tenn.*
Gina Glocksen, 22, Naperville, Ill.
Haley Scarnato, 24, San Antonio, Texas*
Jordin Sparks, 17, Glendale, Ariz.
Stephanie Edwards, 19, Savannah, Ga.*
Leslie Hunt, 24, Chicago
Alaina Alexander, 24, West Hollywood, Calif.+
Sabrina Sloan, 27, Los Angeles+
Lakisha Jones, 27, Flint, Mich.
Nicole Tranquillo, 20, Philadelphia
Amy Krebs, 22, Federal Way, Wash.
Antonella Barba, 20, Point Pleasant, N.J.

As you can see, eight of the top 24 contestants hail from the South (including one person who lives in LA now, but came from Texas), which is one fourth of the total. On the other hand, six of them came from California, including three from Los Angeles.

The disparity in favor of the South becomes more apparent when you consider the results of this competition in past years. Four of the five winners of American Idol have come from the South: Ruben Studdard (Alabama), Taylor Hicks (Alabama), Fantasia Barino (North Carolina), and Kelly Clarkson (Texas). The only other winner of this national event - Carrie Underwood - came from a state as close to the South as you can get: Oklahoma.[2] Thus, if past seasons are any indication, the eye candy candidates (Alaina Alexander and Antonella Barba), the foreigner novelty candidates (Rudy Cardenas and Sanjaya Malakar), and the feel-good-story-of-the-year candidates (Paul Kim and Lakisha Jones), will hang around for a while. But the winner will probably be a serious competitor from the South or the Mid West.

[1]http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003546343
[2]http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3596-american-idol-winners-bios

Yes, that's correct by Leverkuhn

The South is about 1/4 of the country in terms of population, which is why I said there was a "slight" imbalance in favor of Dixie on American Idol.

A precedent embalms a principle.
- Disraeli

Reply To This — User Info — #2

Ah...Lever, keepin' it REAL! by c17wife

You heard it here first, Phil Stacy.
He is the one to beat. And...of course he is from the SOUTH.
The girls? All lame. This is the guys competition to lose.
Long live the SOUTH, Baby!
BTW-8/24 was 1/3 last time I checked. Please tell me you are still majoring in history, right?!? :)
____________________________________________________________
The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.-Reagan

Reply To This — User Info — #3

I'll look into this guy by Leverkuhn

Phil Stacy, if you say so. As to your question, I am working on a Ph.D. in American History at LSU, Baton Rouge.

A precedent embalms a principle.
- Disraeli

Reply To This — User Info — #4

no way by Dienekes

Chris Sligh is the next American Idol!

but I agree the girls are mostly lame. I wonder what happened to the opera girl from the New York auditions?

Reply To This — User Info — #5

They kept all the wrong girls, there's no way that the one.... by Jeff Emanuel

...guy cut last (Thomas?) was 13th-best out of the last 13, and for me it's Chris Sligh or Sundance Head. They are awesome.

Reply To This — User Info — #6

Sundance is all hype! by c17wife

Chris Sligh is freakin' funny, but he won't be the next Idol.
And...the last girl they took, I think they got that SO wrong. Marissa was way better than Antonella. But the girls are all still lame.

Okay, so I see where you are coming from population wise, but they are still 1/3 of the contestants. Right?

Doesn't really matter, all three of the dudes mentioned here are Southerners. So, that should tell you something.

Tradesports is slightly favoring a male right now, but I suspect the odds will change after Tuesday night.

Phil Stacey-AI '07

BTW-I pegged Taylor from the beginning. :)
And, FTR-Oklahoma is very much part of "the south". So it really is 5 for 5 thus far and it will be 6 for 6 when all is said and done.

Long live Dixie!
_____________________________________________________________
The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.-Reagan

Reply To This — User Info — #7

I completely agree with you by Leverkuhn

about Marissa and Antonella. The simple truth is that Antonella got through because of the hotness factor. She is great eye-candy, and the judges and execs picked her for that reason. That said, I don't necessarily blame them for that. Heck, I'm a single guy, and I know I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Miss Antonella. For the same reason, I was sad to see Kelly Pickler go last year, even though I know she certainly didn't deserve to get as far as she did, and I was glad Katherine McPhee stuck around till the final round, even though there were three or four better-qualified singers who should have been in the number two spot.

As for the rest of the contestants, I haven't seen enough of them to really form an opinion yet.

A precedent embalms a principle.
- Disraeli

Reply To This — User Info — #8

wow, that was really really bad. by Dienekes

here we're talking about how superior the guys are to the girls, and they set the lowest possible bar for the girls tomorrow. Chris Sligh and Blake were great. I think Phil was also very good after a bad start, but to be honest, I think he overachieved tonight. The rest were utter garbage. (well, Rudy was a'ight, dog, and I think Sundance and Sanjaya still have potential, but the others... yeeeesh!)

(P.S. Taylor Hicks is awful)

Reply To This — User Info — #9

Agreed, I thought by Leverkuhn

he was much better than Sundance. I thought he had a chance to go deep in the competition, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

A precedent embalms a principle.
- Disraeli

Reply To This — User Info — #10

Redstate