Fickle Fans

"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good." — Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

So I, like a bazillion other people, watched American Idol last night. If you TiVo'd the results and haven't watched it yet -- stop reading NOW.

Because I can't ever wait for the results, I always check Dial Idol on Wednesday morning to see what they have to say, cuz they're always pretty close and it gives me a general idea of what's going to happen on results night. Yesterday, when I checked it, I thought -- uh-oh, Katherine is going home because there's no way Chris "He Is The Next American Idol" Daughtry will leave.

In every poll, on every message board, since the very beginning Chris has been the overwhelming favorite. Not by a little bit, but HUGE. I've watched as his popularity has dropped off a little each week by I would never have guessed he would leave.

The public is fickle and demanding.

And this neatly segues into my post from yesterday and many times before: You just don't know what people want.

Check out M: I3 -- the studio is panicked because it's NOT MAKING ANY MONEY.

The "blockbuster movie" of the year is a bust. They predicted it would be a huge hit, and by all rights it should have been. I wanted to see it way back when. And then Tornado Tom hit.

Who could have predicted that Tom Cruise would turn into such a slimy, yecchy, weird-o that I (and apparently most of the rest of the county) can't even stand to look at him? How can it be that he's gone from Maverick to ... this?

You just don't know what people want.

So... as I'm writing, and wondering if something I've written will sell (this is always in the back of my head) I have to remember the basic truth that the public is a fickle fan and can change its mind on a whim. Today, what I write may be marketable, but when it comes out a year later may bomb.

There is no right story or wrong story. Just good timing that's impossible to predict.

So R.I.P. Chris Daughtry -- even though I didn't enjoy your music, you were fantastic in your niche, and I'm sure we'll be seeing your CD out in the next year or so.