Christians dominate in 'American Idol'

Kris Allen

It was a busy weekend in Milwaukee, San Diego and Conway, Ark., as each city played host to their "American Idol" finalists.

Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen are home for parades and celebrations that will be shown on next week's episode of "American Idol."

While Idol-mania is heating up as the season heads into the home stretch, some viewers have noticed an interesting phenomenon that began way back during the audition season: There have been a lot of Christian singers competing this year.

Certainly, there have been Christian contestants on "American Idol" before. Some, like Mandisa, Phil Stacey, George Huff and Chris Sligh, have gone on to have careers in Christian music. Other contestants with ties to Christian music have landed squarely on their feet in the mainstream. Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks as a teenager had won several Gospel Music Association competitions and toured with Michael W. Smith before going on to win "American Idol" at just 17. Melinda Doolittle was a back-up singer who also toured with Michael W. Smith. Season 5's Chris Daughtry played in a Christian band before he became a rock sensation. And Season 7's Brooke White and runner-up David Archuleta are devout Mormons.

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But this season's roster of top contestants has seemed especially heavy with Christian singers.

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The first to speak openly about his faith was Gokey, a worship leader at Faith Builders International Church in Milwaukee. Early in the auditions, he shared the story of his wife, Sophia, who had died just months before he auditioned for the show. The story, as well as Gokey's faith and strength, captured the hearts of viewers.

There were other Christian contestants with similarly touching stories, such as the blind pianist, Scott MacIntyre, and Lil Rounds, who lost her house in a tornado. By the time the show reached the Top 13 (normally the Top 12, but the judges decided to add one more finalist this season) there were six Christian artists or worship leaders on the roster, including Gokey, Rounds and MacIntyre, as well as worship leaders Michael Sarver and Kris Allen, and Christian independent artist Matt Giraud.

Danny Gokey

That's when the number of Christians competing became apparent even to mainstream media. MTV and the Associated Press ran articles recognizing the unusual number of overtly Christian singers on the show. Idol bloggers burned up the Internet discussing whether faith should even be a factor on the show.

Right out of the gate, some viewers were questioning whether a Christian should even participate on a show looking to crown an "idol." It's a question that even the contestants have to ask themselves

Phil Stacey, a finalist on Season 6 who is getting ready to release his second album, didn't audition for the show to become a star. His friend had gotten married, and Stacey missed the wedding because he was serving in the Navy.

"He told me the only way he would forgive me is if I auditioned for 'American Idol,'" Stacey said. "I didn't think it was going to go anywhere."

But when he made it through to Hollywood week, Stacey realized that he needed to address some ethical questions.

"I do come from a very conservative background," he explained. "The fact that the word 'idol' was in [the name of the show] was not a good thing for us."

He said his family almost didn't even watch for that reason. But in the end, Stacey was convinced that he made it on the show simply because God had a plan for him that included "American Idol."

"I'm not the best singer that auditioned on Season 6 of American Idol," he freely admitted. "There were 103,000 people that auditioned. I got there for a reason."

The platform that he has now from his "American Idol" experience allows him to travel the world sharing not only his music but his love of Jesus.

"I think that there were a lot of people who didn't understand why Jesus was mingling with the people he mingled with," Stacey said. "And at the end of the day you've got to go where you think God is taking you, whether somebody wants you to or not. … I'm here because God put me here. God wants to do something through me."

Idol finalist Mandisa would agree. She gained a following with both Christian and non-Christian fans who fell in love with her gospel/R&B flavored vocals and her willingness to speak openly about her weight issues. Like Stacey, she thinks Christians on the show are there because God is using them and that the Idol platform can offer a way to share Jesus.

"American Idol" finalists last year sing "Shout to the Lord"

In addition to her singing career – she recently released her second album – she blogs about "American Idol" and draws many readers interested in her take on the show. One day she was writing about her relationship with Jesus, though, and thought that it would be a great opportunity to invite her readers to have that relationship, too. She heard from three readers who wanted to know more about how to become a Christian.

"The opportunity to talk to them is one of the biggest honors of my life," she said.

It's not unusual on a reality show for contestants to talk about their faith. But it's not often that a show actually interjects spirituality into the program. Yet that happened on Season 7 of "American Idol," when the contestants performed the worship song "Shout To The Lord" during the "Idol Gives Back" episode. As WND reported, the singers excluded the line, "My Jesus, My Savior," however, and viewers were outraged. The song was reprised the next night on the results show, with the lyrics intact.

Some viewers think that when the show's producers received the negative feedback they realized that Christian viewers were looking for faith-friendly elements of the show and, therefore, this season are allowing more overtly spiritual aspects of the contestants' lives to be included in their stories.

Catering to Christians?

Are producers catering to Christian viewers this season? Stacey says absolutely not.

"It's not deliberate," she said. "I think they realize it's something that is out of their control."

The contestants are selected for their talent and compelling stories, and it just ends up that many are Christians, she concluded.

While many do vote for the singer that shares their moral viewpoints – some viewers, for example, have said they won't vote for finalist Lambert because of photos making the rounds on the Internet that they find offensive – by and large the contestants who are getting through week after week are doing so based on their talent. Of the six Christians in the Top 13, only Gokey and Allen remain.

Missouri Christian newspaper publisher Dwight Widaman, whose family includes two preteen and teen daughters, is one of many viewers who think that the next American Idol should win the competition based on talent, not religion.

"Though we would always like a believer to win, they must also be worthy," he says. "They should be the best artist. From past shows, we can see that believers go on to have promising careers, regardless of the final vote."

In fact, Widaman says that his daughters aren't supporting the popular Gokey, because they don't think he's the best singer and lacks stage presence.

Debbie Egan, from North Carolina, however, admits that faith does factor into her voting, just a little bit.

"I tend to vote for someone whom I know to be a believer," only if they have skills, she insists. "I have been supporting Kris Allen over Danny Gokey because I prefer Kris' style over Danny's, even though both are believers."

But faith isn't the only factor, and talent wins out in the end.

And that means that a lot of Christians are voting for Lambert. His over-the-top, theatrical performances have drawn both praise and criticism from viewers and judges, but overwhelmingly everyone agrees that his vocal talent is unparalleled.

So who will be this season's American Idol? The field will be whittled down to the final two contestants today and tomorrow, and the finale airs May 19, with the results show May 20.