A couple of thoughts I had with regards to the “shocking” American Idol outcome:

-Given how “in love” the judges were with Adam, I saw the vote in many ways as an anti-authority statement. The distrust of authority is one of the core principles upon which our country was founded, and I could almost hear the American people saying, “take that, judges!” as they cast their votes.

-Despite coming in second place, Adam was the clear winner, and Kris was the clear loser. The media felt the need to “come to Adam’s rescue” in response to what they saw as a “blasphemous” outcome, propping him up as if he were the true king… while at the same time making sure that Kris knew that despite the voting results, he really lost. The first or second question asked in interviews with Kris always had to do with Adam and what it felt like for Kris to have won Idol despite being the less talented of the two. (While perhaps never asked so bluntly by the media, the subtext appeared quite clear to me)