Singing Religious Songs on American Idol: How It's Hurt and Helped TV

Perhaps Andrew Lloyd Webber gave Carly Smithson the wrong advice the week of April 22 on "American Idol" when he suggested Smithson sing "Jesus Christ Superstar" as a method for her to do something lively and fun. Well, it might have been wise for Carly to pick another lively and fun ALW song, even though his straight-ahead rock pieces are pretty much relegated to his "Jesus Christ Superstar" musical. Once I started hearing Carly sing-chant the famous chorus repeating the name of every Christian's lord and savior, the unwanted thought came to me that people might take it out on her for singing such a thing on such a secular show.

It appears that others agreed with me based on the reports of hot threads being posted on the "Idol" message board that night saying her singing the song would hurt her chances at progressing. But the question had to be: Hurt her how? My thought diverged from what others thought later. And my thought was that teens who watch "Idol" don't want any religious allusions in song placed into the show when teens use the show to help them find a pop idol and not aid their spirituality. Maybe I was wrong when I read some critics saying that people may not have voted for Carly because they just thought "Jesus Christ Superstar" was offensive to Christians.

Putting it in that context could make sense (especially when you read about the history of the protests in London when it debuted there in the early 70's), though it made me ponder just what kind of spiritual songs could logically be sung on "Idol" without offending a segment of the audience who surely want to use the show in the most secular way possible. Just what is the detriment to singing songs on mainstream shows with some or full amounts of religious thought in the lyrics? There could be an interesting answer in there--all thanks to Dolly Parton who appeared and sang on the show in early April of this year.


How religious songs used to work on mainstream network shows that featured music...