American Idol Top 14 contestant Marcio Donaldson saw his dream end when he was eliminated from the singing competition Monday night. And now he’s sharing his feelings with TMZ about American Idol viewers. He believes Monday’s results prove they tend not to vote for minorities.
There’s been a ton of controversy since the American idol Top 10 were unveiled earlier this week. Out of the six singers saved by America’s vote, only Michael J. Woodard is a person of color. The four singers the coaches saved–Dennis Lorenzo, Michelle Sussett, Ada Vox and Jurnee-are people of color. The latter two are also members of the LGBT community.
“The harsh reality is that most of the people who were in the bottom were minorities. It just shows how sad a dynamic this could be in this industry.” Marcio said. He points out that only four minorities have won American Idol out of sixteen seasons–Ruben Studdard in season 2, Fantasia in season 3, Jordin Sparks in season 6 and season 12’s Candice Glover. “What does that say?,” Marcio asks. “I really don’t know what to say on that. Look at the patterns.” But then he adds, “I don’t discredit anything Idol does because it did give me a beautiful platform.”
Watch Marcio’s interview with TMZ below.
Marcio’s got a point. Fifteen seasons of American Idol winners, 11 have been white. 10 have been men. Yes, minorities tend to not win American Idol. However, timing is everything, and it would probably have been better for Marcio to stay on the gratitude train this soon after, what must have been a very disappointing loss. It’s more important at this point that he concentrate cultivating the bit of momentum acquired from his Idol exposure. Not that he should never address these important issues. Just maybe wait until the sting of losing fades a bit.
