Political Stage Is Next for `Idol' Stars
WASHINGTON — "American Idol" will reach the pinnacle of political validation today when President Bush welcomes this year's winner, Taylor Hicks, and the show's nine runners-up to the White House.
It's not as if the blockbuster Fox show needs more publicity. The season's finale drew 36.38 million viewers, behind only the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards this year, and its 10 top performers are in the midst of a summer concert tour.
But Bush could use a ratings boost -- for months, polls have consistently shown fewer than four in 10 Americans approve of his job performance.
It's the first time "American Idol" stars -- or those from any reality TV show -- have earned a White House meeting. Hicks, along with Katharine McPhee, Elliott Yamin and the show's other finalists, will visit Bush in the Oval Office this afternoon, give him a gift and pose for pictures.
Although the president is following a time-honored tradition of hosting popular champions at the White House, the juxtaposition with world events could strike some as a bit jarring. Earlier in the day, Bush will meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss the battle between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, and the continuing sectarian violence in Baghdad.
"It can be tricky, when the Middle East is falling apart, to be spending time with the winner of 'American Idol,' " said Darrell West, a political scientist at Brown University in Rhode Island. "There's the risk that people will ask, 'Doesn't this guy have something better to do? Shouldn't he be solving foreign crises?' "
The "American Idol" visit was scheduled weeks ago to coincide with the performers' concert in Washington tonight. And although Bush is looking forward to meeting the singers, "the focus of his day will be the meeting with the prime minister of the United Kingdom," said White House spokesman Peter Watkins.
Susan Whitson, first lady Laura Bush's press secretary, suggested the meeting around the time of the "American Idol" season finale. Whitson was Hicks' ninth-grade English teacher at Hoover High School in Birmingham, Ala.
"All I did was ask if it might be something worthy of consideration. There definitely were higher powers that would approve it," she said. "I do think it's a neat show. It's a wholesome show."
"American Idol" is also a nice political fit for Bush -- even though it's unclear if he watches the show. A White House spokeswoman would only say Bush is "aware of the program."
