Están locos estos Americanos

Parece ser que en USA la gente está más interesada en votar a su cantante favorito en "American Idol" que en votar a su presidente en las elecciones:

A PREMATURELY greying bar singer from Birmingham, Alabama, has been named 2006’s American Idol after viewers of the talent show cast nearly 64 million votes in one night — more votes than any US president has received.

Algunos números:

• Nearly 64 million votes cast for American Idol final
• In the 2004 presidential elections President Bush received 62,040,610 votes; in 2000 he received 50,456,002. Bill Clinton got 47,402,357 votes in 1992

Y eso que, segun los jueces del consurso, parece que no canta muy bien (podeis ver un vídeo suyo aquí):

Taylor Hicks, 29, won despite being compared to a “drunken father singing at a wedding” by Simon Cowell, the British music executive who was one of the show’s three judges.

[...]

“Thank you America! I’m living the American dream!” shouted Hicks at the end of Wednesday’s two-hour show, held in the Kodak theatre in Hollywood. Hicks, whose routine includes leaning to one side and shouting “Whoo!” — as well as a much-derided Elvis-style tiptoe dance — built up a huge following of Southerners. Even before winning he was being satirised by the comedy show Saturday Night Live.