'American Idol's' Tatiana del Toro: Worst reality-show contestant ever?
Watching Tatiana del Toro on "American Idol" is like meeting someone at a party who for a fleeting moment or two seems likable and charming but long before the end of the evening has turned into an inescapable nightmare, like the monster in a sci-fi movie. She is relentless and disloyal and endlessly destructive in the service of her only cause, which happens to be -- surprise! -- herself. She is the ex-girlfriend who won't be ignored, the sorority sister bent on destroying the sorority because, well, because she can.
To those who haven't been following the show -- maybe there are a few of you? -- a bit of background:
Tatiana, a 23-year-old Puerto Rican native with head-turning good looks and a stomach-turning, whinnying laugh, showed up for the San Francisco auditions in a form-fitting mermaid dress. "I desire to be the American Idol probably more than anyone has ever wanted anything," she said solemnly during her solo interview. "I promise you that I can be the greatest artist that you have ever seen." (Greater than Taylor Hicks? We don't believe it.) She handed the judges a special "gift," a press kit that included a CD, a DVD and a photo of herself posing in a bustier, which the incorrigibly hound-like Simon Cowell held up and called "quite naughty." "Thank you!" Tatiana gushed, evidently not realizing that after a compliment of that sort, child-like gratitude was totally the wrong note to play. (See West, Mae.)
Tatiana sang a passable if not memorable cover of the Aretha Franklin number "Never Loved a Man," which failed to blow away the judges. "I think you would do a lot of things very well, but not singing," Simon said naughtily, before casting his "no" vote. But then Paula Abdul -- oh, a curse upon the woman who unleashed "Straight Up" on an unsuspecting world! -- jumped in, reasoning that Tatiana was what they needed to "color up" the competition.
And that she has done, in her own demented way. During this week's Hollywood rounds, with the roughly 100 remaining contestants dividing up into groups, Tatiana was a one-woman train wreck, undermining not just her own group but another one that she happened to glom onto after a transitory fit of paranoia. She threw tantrums and sobbed like a newborn, the next minute airily dismissing people she considered her inferiors. Then, after she and her teammates somehow survived the round, she transported herself into a backwoods revival-style frenzy of praise. "Thank you Jesus!" she shouted. Then, bizarrely: "You all make this a part of me! You are all a part of me!"
Rumor has it that Tatiana is, amazingly, one of the final 36 contestants. And given the amount of screen time lavished on her Wednesday night, one could make the case that she is being set up by the producers as this season's anti-hero. For a show that tends to cultivate a wholesome glow around all the contestants, that would be quite a shift. "Idol" has had many crazy and/or irritating contestants before, but they have tended to get zapped long before this point in the competition. It's almost as if the "Idol" team were angling for its own Richard Hatch or Omarosa to spice up this year's outing.
If that is indeed the plan, it has several holes. Where, say, Hatch's casual nudity on the first "Survivor" all fit into his cunning, Machiavellian game plan, Tatiana just comes off as a hard-to-watch, completely-over-the-top mess. She's not the kind of person who seduces; she's an anti-seducer, someone who sends people scurrying away as quickly as their legs can carry them. To see her on TV is to battle a strong urge to shut off the set. Which is, it is fair to say, not usually a television producer's goal.
And that leads to the biggest problem. Tatiana's drama-queen antics may be keeping her alive now, but she's not likely to survive long once the phone lines open for ordinary voters like you and me. So spending all this time on her now just seems like a pointless distraction that adds nothing to the suspense that's supposed to be at the heart of America's No. 1 show. Hence we wonder: Is Tatiana the worst reality contestant ever?
But perhaps we're being too harsh? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/americanidoltracker/2009/02/american-idol-1.html
To those who haven't been following the show -- maybe there are a few of you? -- a bit of background:
Tatiana, a 23-year-old Puerto Rican native with head-turning good looks and a stomach-turning, whinnying laugh, showed up for the San Francisco auditions in a form-fitting mermaid dress. "I desire to be the American Idol probably more than anyone has ever wanted anything," she said solemnly during her solo interview. "I promise you that I can be the greatest artist that you have ever seen." (Greater than Taylor Hicks? We don't believe it.) She handed the judges a special "gift," a press kit that included a CD, a DVD and a photo of herself posing in a bustier, which the incorrigibly hound-like Simon Cowell held up and called "quite naughty." "Thank you!" Tatiana gushed, evidently not realizing that after a compliment of that sort, child-like gratitude was totally the wrong note to play. (See West, Mae.)
Tatiana sang a passable if not memorable cover of the Aretha Franklin number "Never Loved a Man," which failed to blow away the judges. "I think you would do a lot of things very well, but not singing," Simon said naughtily, before casting his "no" vote. But then Paula Abdul -- oh, a curse upon the woman who unleashed "Straight Up" on an unsuspecting world! -- jumped in, reasoning that Tatiana was what they needed to "color up" the competition.
And that she has done, in her own demented way. During this week's Hollywood rounds, with the roughly 100 remaining contestants dividing up into groups, Tatiana was a one-woman train wreck, undermining not just her own group but another one that she happened to glom onto after a transitory fit of paranoia. She threw tantrums and sobbed like a newborn, the next minute airily dismissing people she considered her inferiors. Then, after she and her teammates somehow survived the round, she transported herself into a backwoods revival-style frenzy of praise. "Thank you Jesus!" she shouted. Then, bizarrely: "You all make this a part of me! You are all a part of me!"
Rumor has it that Tatiana is, amazingly, one of the final 36 contestants. And given the amount of screen time lavished on her Wednesday night, one could make the case that she is being set up by the producers as this season's anti-hero. For a show that tends to cultivate a wholesome glow around all the contestants, that would be quite a shift. "Idol" has had many crazy and/or irritating contestants before, but they have tended to get zapped long before this point in the competition. It's almost as if the "Idol" team were angling for its own Richard Hatch or Omarosa to spice up this year's outing.
If that is indeed the plan, it has several holes. Where, say, Hatch's casual nudity on the first "Survivor" all fit into his cunning, Machiavellian game plan, Tatiana just comes off as a hard-to-watch, completely-over-the-top mess. She's not the kind of person who seduces; she's an anti-seducer, someone who sends people scurrying away as quickly as their legs can carry them. To see her on TV is to battle a strong urge to shut off the set. Which is, it is fair to say, not usually a television producer's goal.
And that leads to the biggest problem. Tatiana's drama-queen antics may be keeping her alive now, but she's not likely to survive long once the phone lines open for ordinary voters like you and me. So spending all this time on her now just seems like a pointless distraction that adds nothing to the suspense that's supposed to be at the heart of America's No. 1 show. Hence we wonder: Is Tatiana the worst reality contestant ever?
But perhaps we're being too harsh? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section!
source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/americanidoltracker/2009/02/american-idol-1.html
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