Who is Cardin McKinney and why are there blogs and websites dedicated to her? Why are "insiders" with "reliable information" on forums predicting that she's the next American Idol winner?

[Warning... This article doesn't contain any spoilers, but it talks about spoilers. If knowing the existence of spoilers is likely to spoil things for you, then stop reading.]

The short answer is that Cardin McKinney is a 20-year-old singer from Nashville-via-Alabama. If you journey over to her MySpace page, she's got a nice husky voice and she's darned attractive. She's also apparently a contestant on this season's Idol, though neither her audition nor her audition city have made it to air yet.

Support for this contestant, who hasn't even made a blip on the radars of the 30 million fans whose viewing consists solely of watching Idol on TV, is so strong on some message boards that a Cardin backlash has already begun. An alleged contestant who hasn't appeared on national TV, hasn't had to deal with an awkwardly incompatible theme night, hasn't faced the week-to-week scrutiny of the judges is already facing fierce debate on whether or not she's overrated.

American Idol has become a little weird.

For several years, FOX and the show's producers have done a good job of keeping a handle on the unique tightrope that American Idol has to walk. On one hand, the show is meant to be all about live-ness. The winners are chosen by the American People voting with reliably arbitrary weirdness on a week-to-week criteria known only to them. Every week's decision offers the potential for a surprise, either in the Bottom Three or the elimination and even prognostication sites like DialIdol, sites I frequent myself, haven't taken the edge off of an occasional shocker.

That being said, as much as American Idol is about live-ness from mid-February on, FOX gets its best ratings of the season out over the increasingly prolonged audition episodes that fill six-to-eight weeks of chilly winter programming, episodes that were filmed months ago.

It used to be that with the usual non-disclosure agreements and general media silence, FOX could air the auditions and the Hollywood round and the results were kept under wraps. This year, though, a poster on IdolForums.com put up a list of the Top 50 back in December, a list culled from a mixture of online sleuthing, word-of-mouth and circumstantial evidence. As American Idol reporting goes, it's a fine piece of investigative journalism.

While I'm treating my own recaps of the show like just a normal viewer at home, I confess that I've glanced at the spoilers and I know that even though we've only seen two episodes, several of my favorites were cut in the Hollywood round. I also know that as of midweek, it's expected that the Top 24 will have been notified and given how many ships have already been sunk by loose Idol lips, reports will probably be all over web within hours.

We had a bit of a breach on the previous post, titled Telling apart your Week One 'Idol' blondes. A commenter named SirMac, a regular on IdolForums, sarcastically said that a YouTubed primer of similar contestants sent to Hollywood was pointless because at least half of them had already been eliminated in yet-to-air episodes.

That made me feel like clarifying the policy of this blog and this site when it comes to reality TV spoilers.

Once something has aired on the East Coast, it's fair play. If you're on the West Coast, that isn't a huge hardship. You just want to avoid this blog in the couple hours between airings, because if there's a live elimination, we're going to report on it live. At that point, it's news and we're a news site.

I'm treating the auditions and Hollywood material in the same way I treat any taped reality show, from Hell's Kitchen to Survivor. While there may be reports online that spoil variable amounts of the results, the vast vast vast majority of viewers prefer to let the results come to them on a week to week basis, rather than rushing online to have them spoiler. There are plenty of sites out there for that, but this won't be one.

That doesn't mean I don't read the spoiler sites and I haven't decided if I'm going to want to see the Top 24 when it's leaked, much less if I'll do a blog post on it here. If I do decide to blog on it, it'll be surrounded by more "SPOILER" warnings than you can possibly handle.

But I want to get the temperature in the room. If you're an Idol fan, are you checking the spoiler sites? Are you curious? Or do you like pretending that this part of Idol is unfolding in front of you?

Comments

I have to be honest with you: I didn't know there were any spoiler sites. And I have a really good feeling that the spoiler information will turn out to be mostly false. I won't seek out the spoiler info, either. What's the point? I like my information from people with credentials, because they have something to lose when they are wrong.

A | Jan 22, 2008 1:09:22 AM | #

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I would like some info on one contestant
can anyone tell me if Malanie
Nyema made the top 24?
Or where she stands as of now??

ms.sonny | Jan 22, 2008 4:46:53 AM | #

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Hmmm - interesting question.

I do read the spoiler sites now - to be honest comparing the "fictional reality" of the TV show with the "real reality" that is reported on the net is more fun than the show itself.

So - what if you wait for the episode to air and then include the spoiler info (eg wait until Carly's episode airs and then give folks her real background. My problem with recap sites is they often add little interesting info - but this way you don't spoil the fun (eg you don't need to reveal she is in the top 50) but you do give your readers the background info that a good journalist would.

S

Sharon | Jan 22, 2008 6:16:56 AM | #

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I check some spoiler sites. In years past, they have been pretty accurate. No need getting attached if the person is already gone.

Lau | Jan 22, 2008 6:39:53 AM | #

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To be honest, I wasn't aware that spoiler sites for "Idol" existed. That said, I've already decided that I don't like Cardin. This is based on nothing substantial wahtsoever. Just being a girl hater. Can a boy win this year?

Girley | Jan 22, 2008 6:44:17 AM | #

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I've been surfing around for information about tonight's show. However, your column is the first place I learned of so-called "spoiler" sites. I don't think I'm a naive person; I just never thought to snoop for those details. Now that I know I think I'll keep waiting to be surprised each week. That said, knowledge of an outcome won't "spoil" the fun of watching the show each week. What can I say? I'm hooked for the duration.

BeachSaint | Jan 22, 2008 8:24:47 AM | #

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LOL!

I'm responsible for this? Wow.

One man can make a difference.

SirMac | Jan 22, 2008 8:40:36 AM | #

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Also, you just spoiled Cardin, so... I'm still lost. Do you NOT want spoils... is Cardin an exception?

SirMac | Jan 22, 2008 8:45:35 AM | #

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Spoiler free is the way to be.

SportsNightDave | Jan 22, 2008 8:46:40 AM | #

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SirMac -- I'd been meaning to blog on the concept of "Idol" spoilers at some point, but your comment gave me the necessary impetus. So indeed, one man can make a difference.

As for spoiling Cardin, I decided to take one representative spoiler to spoil myself and her name is *everywhere*. I didn't, for example, spoil any of the early favorites who I already know were eliminated... That seemed too much. A hottie with a nice country voice making it through? Not much of a spoiler...

And I'm now, officially, tired of the word "spoiler."

-Daniel

Daniel | Jan 22, 2008 8:56:59 AM | #

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Glad I could be of help to you. You're the lucky one who gets paid to blog on Idol, not me. I wish...

SirMac | Jan 22, 2008 9:08:45 AM | #

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I check ALL the sites. I love watching American Idol but I also love having information before hand. That way, my friends are impressed with my knowledge! MJ's and VFTW are my main info sites.

Kristi | Jan 22, 2008 9:12:37 AM | #

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I like that you said my spoiling was a a fine piece of investigative journalism. Thank you! :)

JoePlace | Jan 22, 2008 9:35:57 AM | #

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I like that you said my spoiling was a a fine piece of investigative journalism. Thank you! :)

JoePlace | Jan 22, 2008 9:36:05 AM | #

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I didn't know spoiler sites exisited for Idol. I'd prefer to be surprised. What's the point in watching if you already know what's going to happen?

ave | Jan 22, 2008 10:51:37 AM | #

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That's dumb, ave. You watch Idol for the performances, not the results. All we know is who is gonna be there, we don't spoil how they actually sound because each performance sounds different to each listener. That SHOULD be why you watch.

SirMac | Jan 22, 2008 12:29:08 PM | #

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Contestant spoilers really started coming out during Season 5. People knew who Chris and Ace were before they were shown on TV. The spoilers really took full force last year with pretty much every contestants name been spoiled before the audition shows aired. I like to look at the spoilers because you can get the chance to see what the contestants have done in the past before they are forced to take their Myspace's down. You can also see the spin AI puts on some of the contestants. There's three contestants who are going to be on the show tonight that have some significant histories. It should be interesting to see if they sweep their histories under the rug or tell us the truth about them

Christina | Jan 22, 2008 12:43:44 PM | #

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Why people watch AI is varied. Some like the competition, some like the music, some like it because it is something they can do with their family. And some people prefer to not know,it takes the fun out of it for them. That's cool.

For me the machinations behind AI have become vastly more interesting than the show itself the past couple of years, so I'm eating it up.

langslowblack | Jan 22, 2008 12:44:40 PM | #

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as a regualr on idolforums.com, of course everyone checks the spoilers. and usually, they're like, 99% accurate.

AmerIdolFan | Jan 22, 2008 1:59:15 PM | #

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I frequent a number of AI sites. This is the hardest time of the year for me, because most of these sites have spoilers. I stay away from the spoilers as soon as possible (I don't want to get attached to a contestant only to see him go down in flames in Hollywood), but sometimes it's impossible. And as AmerIdolFan says, the spoilers are usually about 99% accurate.

LadyBeBop | Jan 22, 2008 2:08:50 PM | #

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I am loving the spoilers! I have a horrid habit of falling for the ones that don't make it to the finals, so at least I can eliminate *some* potential disappointment by knowing for sure there are some to whom I should not form attachments. (LadyBeBop, how does your similar reasoning keep you away from spoilers? From seeing them early, you mean? I can see that too.)

I decided to include spoilers on my blog this season as well for these reasons, and most of my RL friends don't mind knowing spoilers. In fact I've encouraged some that a certain talented 16-year old is featured on YouTube and told them when his audition airs (hopefully that's vague enough to not give away too much here!).

PezKat | Jan 22, 2008 3:11:56 PM | #

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I listened to her and I for one don't care for her "husky" voice.

isshawnie | Jan 23, 2008 6:06:24 AM | #

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I've spoiled about half the top 24 so far.

If you're interested, you know where to go.

SirMac | Jan 23, 2008 1:07:09 PM | #

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I'm not a fan of spoilers. And since there are clearly so many sites that offer spoilers re: AI, why not let people go there for them. You can even refer people to them if you want or at least how they can search for spoilers themselves. Personally, I don't expect and don't want to read spoilers on Zap2it, and will avoid the AI section if they will be included here in the future.

Erika | Jan 23, 2008 5:23:02 PM | #

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I didn't really know about the pre-show spoilers before this season. I've been sick with bronchitis, so I've been listening to a lot of the contestants. I won't spoil it for anyone here, but I honest do believe this could believe this could be the most talented group of contestants yet.

#1 Idol Fan | Jan 26, 2008 5:11:12 PM | #

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