AI WGWG or Can an Asian American really win American Idol

For the 5th consecutive time a WGWG (White Guy With Guitar) won American Idol.  And most of the Philippines and the Fil-am community was frustrated that their bet, Jessica Sanchez settled for the runner-up spot.   The last female to win Idol was in 2006.  The last non-white to win was also in 2006.  Hmmm, can an Asian American woman really win American Idol?

In a show like idol where 100% of the decision is made by the voting public, it is very important to understand the demographics of America to answer the question.  This becomes relevant when you know that 8 out of the 11 winners are from Southern US, including the first 5 winners.  And American Idol is very popular in the South.

Arts especially music should really have no demographic biases, but not if votes determine the winner.  Many call the United States a melting pot of cultures and nationalities, due to the estimated 20M legal and illegal immigrants in the country.  But one must remember that the US is the 3rd most populated country in the world, next to China and India.  So 20M represents less than 10% of the population.

A demographic analysis of the potential voters does not support the theory of racial bias or cultural discrimination.  It is understandable that people associate to the music they are used to, or they grew up with.  Example.  country, folk, rock as opposed to urban and r&b

Jessica Sanchez case is interesting because she is Latina-Asian American.  So by association, she should be getting votes and support of the 2 communities.  However, the Hispanic combined with the Asian community  only represent 21% of the entire US.  White US is estimated at 72%, which is more than 3 times of the Asian-Latino population combined.

One argues that that there had been African-American winners on Idol, in fact there had bee 3:  Ruben on season 2, Fantasia on Season 3 and Jordin in 2006.  And Black/African American only represent less than 13% of the population.  That is a different story altogether, given Black and African American singers are part of the corner stone of US music history.  Big names of past and present US music include Black artists. One can argue that US music is rooted from Black music.  Asian American music artists have limited success in the US, compared to whites and blacks.  Hispanic artists had better success.  So, given the demographics and American music history,  a Hispanic American Idol is more likely than an Asian American Idol.   Sad but true.