Photo courtesy of zap2it.com
Following the departure of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler from American Idol there has been a lot of speculation regarding who will be sitting at the judges table when the show resumes next season. Aretha Franklin, the 70-years-old undisputed ‘Queen of Soul’ has expressed an interest in filling one of those seats.
According to my way of thinking, if one of the greatest singers who ever lived wants to become an American Idol judge for a season or two, it should be a done deal. The wealth of experience and knowledge she would bring is vast and would be of great benefit to aspiring singers of any age.
Photo courtesy of zap2it.com
Not so with Ms Gifford who on Monday, insinuated Aretha Franklin is ‘too old’ to join the cast of American idol. She wasn’t bold enough or stupid enough to come right out and say it.
What she said was: “If they are looking for a younger demographic, there are a lot of kids out there (who) actually don’t know who Aretha Franklin is. It’s sad, but they don’t.”
Ms Franklin responded in an email sent to CNN: “My audience and fans span the age of eight to 90! And are multi-ethnic, and I am very well known to young adults, tweens and teens. ..I’m surprised Kathie Lee did not research my worldwide celebrity audience! She’s usually right on top of things with a great sense of humor, but she’s totally wrong this time. She should research me before she speaks about me. I’m sure she thought she was right; still enjoy Hoda and Kathie Lee!” [..Source]
The thing that ticks me off is Ms Gifford, who will be 59 years old this year is acutely aware of the attitudes and obstacles women of a certain age have to deal with and/or overcome in our daily lives. That she herself, is a ‘mature’ woman makes her comments even harder to digest because she knows better. Stupid comments regarding a woman’s age are unacceptable by any intelligent human being’s standards and are made even more unacceptable when the woman making the stupid comment is in the same age bracket as the woman she offends
Ms Gifford is on a roll.
Who can forget her inexcusable blunder back in May while interviewing Martin Short? She spoke of his marriage and his wife which made for a super awkward (and no doubt painful) moment for Martin whose wife had passed away a year and a half earlier of ovarian cancer. How she managed to stay on the show after that makes me scratch my head. Duh! I don’t get it. How can you be content with not having a clue about someone you’re interviewing on national television? Here’s the video if you missed it.
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About Taylor Gilmore
Creator and Author of blogs TaylorCares, GiaVanne's Gems, and Urban Philly Woman. Taylor is a Christian, Professional Blogger, Freelance Writer and Social Media Enthusiast.
Oh my! Martin Short handled that well. As for Kathy Lee, let’s just say a large population of people would not know how SHE is if she were an American Idol judge. I find it hard to believe that Aretha Franklin would be a stranger to anyone. Humph!
It’s time for Kathie Lee to retire.
she should’ve been careful before spewing out anything to ANYONE! tsk, tsk.
Kristen recently posted..Bite My Tongue
That’s the problem. She doesn’t seem to have enough sense to curb her tongue.
It is quite challenging to think of who the next American Idol judge is going to be. Tough times for the show next season!
Vera recently posted..4 STEPS TO NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL SKIN
Aretha Franklin is Aretha Franklin. Even if younger generations do not know her, they should. She will be an asset to American Idol.
kat recently posted..On Being Informed
I agree. 110%
Taylor recently posted..Katie Holmes Divorce Boosts Sales Of Her Clothing Line
Very good article.
Chinmay recently posted..Cricket: India Vs Sri Lanka ODI Series From Tomorrow!
booo to the insensitive comments. they just don’t know when to think before they open their mouth.
postcardtrail recently posted..Wasabi Night
We need to be careful on what we say, specially if its on national television!
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