Closet ‘Idols’?
America’s most popular TV show has a gay headache
APR. 20, 2007
Ryan Lee

http://www.southernvoice.com/

Pent up for almost five years, steadily simmering just beneath the surface of America’s top-rated television show, the gay undertones and subplots that have been a part of “American Idol” from the beginning appear to be erupting into an all-out queer circus during season six.

From Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell gay baiting one another ad nauseum, to a California lawsuit filed last month alleging a former male contestant sexually harassed a male “Idol” employee by masturbating in a bathroom near the shows stage, it’s been a nasty, messy year for gay issues on “American Idol.”

Not to mention the biggest source of queeny chaos to ever blanket the show: the awkwardly androgynous Sanjaya Malakar. The hula-hooping half-talent has been called everything from “sweet” to “vaguely effeminate” to “the hottest woman on the show,” and his religious resistance to wearing the same hairdo for two episodes of “Idol” have caused gaydar systems to go off nationwide.

“Clearly Sanjaya is not a straight man,” says R.J. Helton, who made the Top 5 in the first season of “American Idol” and announced he was gay on a Sirius radio program last year.

“But people love him,” Helton continues. “He’s by far the most talked about Idol ever. I have found myself tuning in every week to see what Sanjaya’s going to do — what he’s going to wear, what he’s going to sing, how he’s going to wear his hair.”

Gay or not, Sanjaya is a part of “American Idol’s” lengthy, checkered relationship with gender conformity and sexual orientation — a past that convinces Helton that an openly gay contestant could never be crowned America’s idol.

“I think America would probably be OK with it for the most part, but I think the producers of the show would be against it,” Helton says. “Producers have a say so in everything that goes on with the show, and they’re able to determine the outcome in certain ways.”

DESPITE THAT CONTROL OVER the show, producers have been unable to insulate “American Idol” from gay gossip since the show debuted in 2002.

The first season featured at least two gay contestants who were closeted at the time (Helton and Jim Verraros), and season two finalist Clay Aiken is Barry Manilow reborn in the way he is widely perceived as an asexual gay man.

The gay rumor mill kicked into high gear again during season four, first when a personal profile on BlackPlanet.com for “Idol” finalist Anwar Robinson allegedly indicated he was gay, then when finalist Mario Vazquez abruptly dropped-out of the show for “personal reasons.”

Vazquez’s departure set gay bloggers ablaze with hopes that the sexy singer liked boys, a rumor Vazquez flirtatiously addressed when appearing on “The Late Show with David Letterman” to give his “Top 10” reasons for leaving the show.

“No. 6: Ryan Seacrest is all hands,” Vazquez mockingly said. “No. 5: I started liking when Ryan Seacrest was all hands.”

Vazquez’s exit from “American Idol” is decidedly less humorous two years later, since a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that the Top 12 contestant made unwanted sexual advances toward Magdaleno Olmos, a former accountant for Fremantle Media, the company that produces “Idol.”

Vazquez and “American Idol” executives did not respond to repeated interview requests by press time.

OLMOS’S WRONGFUL TERMINATION lawsuit also names as defendants Fremantle Media, Fox and “American Idol,” for having allegedly “condoned and ratified the sexual harassment perpetrated by Vazquez.

But the picture painted by Olmos of “Idol” bigwigs rallying to the support of a contestant whom they knew were gay doesn’t square with Helton’s recollections of his experience on the show.

“I kept [my sexual orientation] very quiet because at the beginning stages I wasn’t even comfortable with myself yet,” Helton says. “They did also say if you happen to be gay, we think it’s best for you and the show to keep it quiet.”

Helton offers a less tolerant depiction of the shows driving force, host and co-producer Simon Cowell.

“Simon is very, very homophobic and you can see that with each contestant,” Helton says. “It doesn’t matter how good you are a singer, if he even senses you might be gay, he’s going to have an issue.”

“American Idol” observers also have a hard time imagining the show and its parent company nurturing an openly gay contestant to victory, let alone support him in the face of sexual harassment allegations.

“Fox? Not a chance,” says Frank Harris, a blogger for Idolme.com. “Are you kidding? I don’t think they would ever allow it [for an openly gay contestant to win] … except for ratings.”

PROBABLY THE MOST CONSISTENT gay buzz around “American Idol” over its six seasons has been about Ryan Seacrest’s sexual orientation, and the endless speculation that he his gay.

“Is Ryan Gay?” In Touch magazine flatly asked recently. Despite such evidence as “Ryan flirts with men,” “He loves to shop” and “He cares about his appearance,” 62 percent of respondents to an In Touch poll said they don’t believe Seacrest is gay.

Someone not as convinced of Seacrest’s heterosexuality appears to be Cowell, as hardly an episode has gone by in season six without the two men descending into awkward, pointed verbal exchanges about things like high heels and paying to watch each other dance. The gay-baiting shenanigans peaked during the March 13 episode, which featured this doozey of an exhange:

“Simon, any advice on the high heels?” Seacrest asked.

“You should know, Ryan,” Cowell replied.

“Stay out of my closet, Simon.”

“Well, come out.”

The non-stop homo-erotic banter confuses and offends Harris.

“Are they trying to be funny?” Harris asks. “I think it’s offensive because you’re taking a whole section of society and labeling them.”

The verbal jousting between Cowell and Seacrest has always been a funny part of the show, but Helton agrees that the gay-themed conversations have been excessive this year.

“I think this season has been overly awkward,” Helton says. “It’s like, ‘OK guys, what’s really going on?’ But I think it’s all fun and it makes for good television.”

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***Much thanks to Ryan Lee @ SoVo for being so gracious and friendly.***

Francis L.