We dodged a bullet there.  

A Gokey came and a Gokey went, and we shall hear from him no more.  In desperate times such as these, there is no place for a Gokey, a relic of times' past, when a voice and only a voice could make one a pop sensation.  Danny Gokey would be an ideal candidate for American Idol if it were, as Randy so brazenly states, "a singing competition."  It is not merely a singing competition, it is a competition to become a star, and everything that comes with it.  Danny had the vocals down, but everything else was lacking, which is something I cannot blame Danny for.  He's a pious, kind of dorky white guy from Milwaukee.  Of course he's not going to move particularly well on stage.  Danny maxed out his potential, almost fooling America in the process.  Although I have been a staunch Anti-Gokite all season, I have not come to spit on the man's grave.  Instead, I plan to make amends, in a way.

There has been a lot of vitriol spewed the way of Danny Gokey lately, and most of it comes from a reasonable place.  Like anyone who thought that Allison Iraheta was a better American Idol contestant than Danny, it felt like the universe was giving us all the middle finger with Danny's march towards the top 3 and, possibly, the top two.  The natural reaction is to beat up on Danny, even if he's just a dude trying to do his best.  That being said, there are aspects of Danny's personality that irked viewers the wrong way.  His personality often seemed disingenuous, a chosen persona that he felt gave him the best chance to endear himself to the masses.  Also, there was a certain arrogance to his demeanor that was hard to shake.  The only thing worse than arrogance is undeserved arrogance, and Danny gave off that vibe.  

I actually believe Danny is probably a pretty good guy.  To be able to perform like he did in front of millions of people requires a massive amount of confidence/arrogance.  Self-doubt and humility are hindrances on a show like American Idol.  It's not a contest for the easily rattled.  I never hated Danny Gokey, but I often hated the concept of Danny Gokey.  That someone like Danny Gokey who, I felt, had obvious musical limitations and was still hailed by the judges as one of the best pure singers in the world was incredibly frustrating.  That America fell for the judges' ruse just piled onto that frustration.  Danny, as I said, is a relic in today's world of modern music.  He wasn't going to cut it in the recording industry, so why should he outpace the likes of Allison Iraheta (and, to a lesser extent, Matt Giraud), when his potential was so limited.  

Who the voters support on American Idol, it turns out, has little correlation with whose records they'll eventually buy.  Whatever kind of record Danny Gokey ends up recording, no one is going to buy it.  Can you even imagine him in a music video?  Gokey is destined for a career on the fringe, and there's nothing wrong with that.  He has no star power, only a voice, a voice that he shares with countless anonymous people across the country.  I imagine this is one of the reasons that Danny made it so far - viewers can identify with Danny, because they probably know someone similar.  He's the local boy made good, with a tragic back-story to boot.  

None of this is to say that Danny didn't deserve to make it as far as he did.  Even with all of his limitations, he was one of the five or six best contestants on American Idol 8, which has proven to be one of the series' most talented seasons ever.  Thank goodness we only have one week of Idol left, because without Danny I'll have no one to bag on constantly.  So, at least, thanks for that, Mr. Gokey.  You gave me more material than I could have anticipated.  Good luck.

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer

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