Scott Allan's World

Virginia Tech was a gun free zone. That worked out well. Let’s make the entire country like that.

COLD COWELL ROLLS EYES AFTER ‘IDOL’ CONTESTANT SENDS CONDOLENCES
Wed Apr 18 2007 08:30:40 ET

Fans were enraged and FOX affiliates were fielding complaints late Tuesday after AMERICA IDOL judge Simon Cowell was caught on camera rolling his eyes at comments made by contestant Chris Richardson — comments about the tragic VIRGINIA TECH shootings!

“My heart and prayers go out to Virginia Tech. I have a lot of friends over there. Be strong,” Richardson, a Chesapeake, Virginia native, told the audience of the nation’s top-rated TV show.

A quick camera shot showed Cowell rolling his eyes and impatiently tapping his hand on the table.

Backstage, contestant Chris Richardson was left stunned, calling Simon’s reaction “sad and hurtful,” a top production source told the DRUDGE REPORT.

[VIDEO]

Cowell’s flippant reaction came after he critiqued Richardson for a “nasally” performance of the Rascal Flatts song “Mayburry.”

“Look, in his defense, Simon felt Chris was cynically deflecting his criticism,” a FOX executive explained. “It was unfortunate… he clearly was unaware the camera was on him when he rolled his eyes, and he was hardly making a rude gesture to the victims.”

Cowell did offer support for the families at the end of the broadcast.

Developing…

I saw it and I did not think Simon was making light of the tragedy at all. Chris Richardson had been arguing with Simon over an unfavorable critique when, at the end, Chris announced his support for the students and parents at Virginia Tech. It came right before they announced the number to vote for Chris and it felt as though Chris may have been pandering for votes to deflect from the criticism he had just received. I had rolled my eyes at the same time Simon did. It may have been entirely sincere, but it just didn’t feel right. The entire way American Idol handled the situation was just awkward all night. A singing competition just seemed to be the wrong place to address such a serious matter.

UPDATE:
Tonight on Idol, Simon had indisputable video evidence that he did not hear Chris’ comment at all and the eye rolling was due to a conversation with Paula about Chris’ singing. Good for him.

You knew it was coming.

Bush’s presence in Virginia was criticized earlier in the day by Rosie O’Donnell on ABC’s “The View,” who contrasted his actions following Hurricane Katrina.

“It was interesting to note that President Bush was flying to Virginia Tech today and took him a week to get to … Katrina to visit the victims,” she said. “You can’t pretend that it’s the same. How many people died in Katrina?”

You are right Rosie, it is not the same. In Katrina, residents were given advance notice of the impending disaster. Afterward, it was very difficult to get to New Orleans and dangerous too. Probably not the best place for the Commander In-Chief to be while rescue efforts were being conducted.

Rosie seems to think that the number of people who died makes one incident more tragic than another. Let me point out a statistic for her then.

In 2006, more than 1,200 people died in accidents on Alabama roads, and that may not be the end of it. State officials say that once all the city and county fatalities are added in, the total could exceed 1,240.

That means more people have died driving in Alabama than American Soldiers died in Iraq last year. How would she interpret that? Why didn’t we get a visit from the President? Oh I know, it’s probably his fault. After all, he is in bed with the oil companies. Sounds to me that there should be a war against auto makers and drivers licenses. Maybe the speed limit should be reduced to 20 MPH. We should pull all funding for bridges and roads and ban gasoline. Why isn’t Cindy Sheehan camping outside Governor Riley’s house demanding that all travel be banned?

Rosie, you are a moron. Please keep talking because you really do hurt the liberal agenda. This is why I love free speech. Moronic ideas rebut themselves.