Bush to meet newest American Idol
WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush will briefly escape the Middle East conflict and other headaches to greet the nation's new "American Idol" -- a blues rocker who won more votes in a TV poll than the US leader himself.
Prematurely gray-haired Taylor Hicks, 29, captured the nation's hearts in May on the televised amateur singing contest, winning 63 million votes for his Alabama-born bluesy singing and dancing to beat out scores of other hopeful stars.
He and the other "American Idol" finalists will visit Bush at the White House on Friday, the same day British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives to tackle the pressing issue of raging Middle East violence.
Analysts said the visit marks an unusual departure for a White House that, unlike some of its predecessors, has kept its distance from American pop culture and Hollywood glamour.
But to receive a guy as suddenly famous as Hicks -- who already stars in a widely screened television commercial for a car company, and has sealed a record deal -- may be a fine move for a Bush presidency languishing under low approval ratings.
"This is good publicity for the president," said Gemma Puglisi, a professor of
"We are glued to who is going to make it, and we vote. It is almost like a democracy," she said of the Fox network television show that had the nation cheering for favorites over 13 consecutive weeks.
Like several other top shows here conceived in Britain, "American Idol" captivated the country. The show consistently rated higher than any other during its weekly screenings, and the May final was followed by 42 million anxious viewers.
That accounts for one in ever seven Americans, and was only second to the American football Super Bowl final aired annually in January.
The number of votes cast for Hicks in the final outnumbered that Bush himself received when he won re-election in 2004. Of course, the "American Idol" poll was far from scientific. People could vote by telephone and text-message as many times as they liked, and many did.
Plus, the voting was believed to have been international, with the show hitting TV screens as far away as Afghanistan.
Puglisi said she is curious to see how Bush interacts with young Americans who have developed cult followings of their own.
"It's interesting to see the president with those ordinary people who live the American dream," Puglisi said.
Other analysts said the appearance should help Bush brush up his image among Americans who are nervous about the course of the Iraq war the president launched three years ago.
"He wants to soften his image, associating himself to the common American," said Leonard Steinhorn, another American University professor.
Receiving show business celebrities has been a White House tradition since the 1920s, but Bush had steered clear of such glitz and focused mostly on sports stars.
Bringing Hollywood stars to the US seat of power "is very common, but not for this White House" said Alan Schroeder, author of "Celebrity in Chief" about presidents tapping into the entertainment business to build their images.
Schroeder said Bush was likely to avoid the embarrassment of his visitors criticizing his policies, a fate that had befallen presidents of the past, because the "American Idol" stars appear so apolitical.
"These celebrities are not threatening, not famous, not rich, not controversial. Pretty bland," Schroeder said.
"No way could they turn into an Eartha Kitt statement," he said in reference to the actress and jazz singer's 1968 scathing attack on the Vietnam War during a White House appearance with Lady Bird Johnson, wife of president Lyndon Johnson.
Hollywood has been generally critical of the Bush administration, and vice versa. By contrast, president Bill Clinton received Hollywood celebrities on an almost monthly basis, Schroeder noted. And the often secretive Richard Nixon received Elvis Presley.
But it John F. Kennedy who topped the list of president-celebrity get-togethers when he was serenaded "Happy Birthday" by a sultry Marilyn Monroe.
"He used (stars), but with a genuine affection and not looking at them as only an opportunity to take advantage of a pop culture," Schroeder said of Kennedy.
