That guy is everywhere these days.
Okay, it’s David Cook, but I couldn’t have lived with myself if I didn’t make that joke at least once.
For those keeping score, this is the second straight year that the winner of American Idol has been a non-Southerner, at least sort of: while Cook was born in Texas, he has lived most of his life in Missouri and is therefore more properly considered a Mid-Westerner. As you probably remember, AI was dominated by the American South to such an extent that it was sometimes called “Confederate Idol.” (I wish I had come up with that joke, but of course I didn’t.) The last two years have seen a move away from the South; Jordin Sparks was from Arizona, and this year both the Davids had a similar background: born in Southern states (Texas, Florida) but raised elsewhere.
However, every single winner of AI has been from a “Red” state that has voted Republican in the last two Presidential elections. Missouri is the least Red state that has won so far, however. I don’t know if it says anything about the musical culture or the voting culture of the U.S. that the blue states never win AI; I kind of feel like it’s the Red states that have produced the bulk of America’s musical talent over the years (particularly the South), but that’s a feeling and I have nothing to back it up with. But the voting does seem to be less Southern than it was, and who knows — we might see an Idol from Taxachusetts someday.