The Case for Carmen

As with many viewers, I was mystified by Simon Cowell’s choice of Carmen Rasmusen to advance to the final twelve of the competition. She wasn’t particularly impressive when she performed “Can’t Fight the Moonlight.” Others from the top 32, Chip and Nasheka, were there, and they gave fine performances. But Simon chose the Utah teen, and the conspiracy theories started immediately. Since then, she has been the victim of much abuse on the message boards, various web sites, and elsewhere. None of the final twelve, with the possible exception of Corey, started the finals at anywhere near the disadvantage that Carmen did.

On Motown night, people were still questioning Simon’s sanity. As we waited for Carmen to perform, I think there were many people who were hoping, expecting, and wanting to see Carmen fail. The problem was, she didn’t. She gave a splendid rendition of “You Can’t Hurry Love” that was confident, assured, and more soulful than many other performances that night. Apparently many viewers agreed with Simon, as she avoided the bottom three that night. It was at that point that I fell in love with Carmen and she became my favorite contestant. Her voice is not only unique, but also powerful. She has a heavy vibrato that adds warmth to the power, and her versatility in the lower register is impressive.

Despite this performance, the negativity about Carmen continued. People didn’t like the vibrato, they still thought Simon was insane, and they still wanted her gone. Over the next three weeks, her performance level and her consistency, as well as her confidence and stage presence, continued to improve. With the possible exception of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” in movie week, each Carmen performance has built upon the next. And this is a crucial point. Carmen’s improvement has been constant and consistent from week to week. Each week she performs, we hear something new and exciting. On Disco night, her rendition of “Turn the Beat Around” was arguably one of the top three performances. She had the vibrato under more control, her enunciation of the quick text was sparkling – much better than Josh’s Garth Brooks patter the previous week – and she looked gorgeous. She had clearly found her confidence and her element. But the anti-Carmenism that has existed since the wildcard show still persists, and it finally landed her – quite unjustly – in this week’s bottom two.

If you want to hear more of this anti-Carmenism, there are several places you can go. My purpose is to make the case for saving her and why I think she has what it takes to keep going in the competition. I would also like to briefly address the reasons why she may have fallen to the bottom this week. First of all, I would like to draw a comparison to Josh. She may be in the opposite position from him. As we discovered Wednesday, Josh’s status as a member of the armed forces apparently saved him from an abysmal performance. According to David Bloomberg in his article on “The Joshua Gracin Controversies, he “stunk up the joint.” Apparently, Josh can get away with several bad performances. With Carmen, the situation is reversed. She literally has to give the performance of her life every week to try to overcome the prejudice and bashing she has endured since Simon chose her. For the most part, she has. Consistent improvement is important to the competition, and while Carmen improves steadily, favorites like Clay, Kimberly Caldwell, and even Ruben simply stagnate and sound the same every week. But the point is that she has had to do this. Some people will never forgive her for the way she entered the finals and are determined to eliminate her, maybe just to spite Simon. There are also fans of Chip and Nasheka who are still very bitter and blame her for everything.

Carmen has gained a fan base, and a devoted one, but this fan base did not have as much time to form as those for the other contestants. We didn’t really know her before the wildcard competition, and the others had already been given exposure and time to form a following. The Carmen bandwagon was late, and possibly only arrived with “You Can’t Hurry Love.” There are large blocs of people who will vote for Carmen. There are few states with a greater sense of community than Utah, and the way Survivor contestant Neleh Dennis is treated like a hero there – a year after Marquesas ended – is an indication of the fact that the state is fiercely loyal to its own. That also goes for the LDS church, whose five million American members represent a potential Carmen support base. But these natural allegiances are simply not enough. Utah is not a large state, as far as population is concerned.

So we need to consider reasons why people who do not belong to her natural support group should vote for Carmen. One of these reasons is her image. In the wake of the Corey Clark scandal, perhaps its time for an American Idol who represents the values we cherish. In a recent letter to the Salt Lake City Deseret News, a viewer personally thanked Carmen for her modesty and her example – basically for being the only female contestant who has the self-respect to cover herself. It is actually quite inspirational that Carmen can still exude sexiness and even be called the “hot chick” without showing off everything. With people like Britney and Christina showing off more and more skin, perhaps this is what we need. Even Kelly Clarkson showed up in a dress that revealed part of her buttocks when she sang in week 2 of the finals. Carmen’s modesty in dress sends a message – a good message. But this is of course a secondary consideration. The main issue is whether she has the talent. It is my opinion that she does, and she proves it with each passing performance. Even after what must have been a torturous, drawn-out process last night, she still nailed her second performance of “Turn the Beat Around.” It is clear that she is not only talented and modest, but she is also underrated and humble. We all wondered what Simon Cowell saw in her. Maybe this was it. And I don’t think he’s standing by her just to save face. I think he still believes in her.

So, briefly, what were the reasons behind her landing in the bottom two? I have already considered some of the anti-Carmen attitudes that float around. These have been answered by various people. The reviewer at tvtome.com for American Idol, mk88, is a Carmen supporter. According to him, there must be some anti-young, anti-beautiful, anti-talented coalition that is throwing votes to everybody except poor Carmen. There may be something else, however. It is something that I hesitate to bring up because I don’t want to believe it. I only base this hypothesis on some things I have read on message boards, so if you are somebody who truly does hate Carmen’s voice with no other considerations, please don’t email me and tell me I accused you of prejudice. I honestly believe that some of the anti-Carmenism is tainted with a touch of anti-Mormonism. Carmen proudly announces on her page at the official AI site that she is a member of the LDS, or Mormon faith. This has been the source of many tasteless jokes on the message boards. Religious bigotry is far from dead in this country. People routinely say things about Mormons that they wouldn’t dream of saying about Catholics, Jews, or any other religious group. It is sad, but true. On one message board, I read several polygamy jokes about Carmen. Could there be ANYTHING that is more wildly inappropriate and in worse taste than to make polygamy references to a teenager during the same month that another teenager, Elizabeth Smart, was rescued from a would-be polygamist madman? Yet these things are posted on message boards with no remorse whatsoever. If Carmen is suffering because of her religious affiliation, then at least she’ll know it wasn’t for a good reason. But like I said, I really hope that this isn’t the case.

I hope that viewers will rally to save this remarkable young woman from the axe next week. She deserves to move on. And maybe America will see that as well.

Kelly Dean Hansen is a doctoral student in musicology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He can be reached at Kelly.Hansen@colorado.edu.

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