American Idol Stereotypes the Top 6 - April 23, 2014

I'm not even sure why I caught the beginning of tonight's live show, which opened with a very contrived "Meet The Idols Live - Top 6" video, riddled with prop guitars, and totally not photogenic camera angles all up in contestants' faces. The worst of it were the cliched labels tacked on to each of the finalists:

1) Caleb Johnson - who regularly channels Jack Black from School of Rock, i.e. THE HARD ROCKER

2) Sam Woolf - the HEARTTHROB (this kid looks like he's 15 years old and is more prepubescent than throbby)

3) Jessica Meuse - the REBEL (likely inspired by the pink highlights in her hair and nose ring because her performances are rather tame. If this woman is a rebel, then I am a NY Jets football star and defender of the universe)

4) C.J. Harris - the ROOTS ROCKER (yes, C.J. is African-American, hence the reference to the TV miniseries/Alex Haley novel)
 

5) Alex Preston - the TROUBADOUR (do the AI producers/bad label-makers even know the meaning of this word? Dude, I had to look it up. By the way, he's from New Hampshire, not medieval France, and I'd rather misidentify him as indie pop than folksy)

6) Jena Irene - the WILDCARD (again, I'm not exactly sure what specifically makes her a wildcard in this competition other than the wacky outfits the AI stylists keep inflicting upon her) 

 

What was the thinking exactly behind assigning these individuals such limiting, and even inaccurate, classifications? Does a troubadour have as much of a shot at the grand prize as a hard rocker or a heartthrob? The whole premise of the show rests on Americans' votes to determine the champion, but it seems AI producers deem the viewing public capable of assessing only prepackaged, one-dimensional, pigeonholed, cartoon characters (my own overuse of labels!)... in a singing competition. In a weird way, maybe this does an idol make?