ARE AMERICAN "IDOLS" WORTHY OF WORSHIP?

First there was Frenchie Davis, the “American Idol” contestant who was booted off of the show for posing for nude pictures for a kiddie-porn web site.  (She was apparently “simulating solitary sexual activity.”)

Tuesday night, the remaining eight contestants performed on the FOX Television show without Corey Clark, who was removed from the lineup, when it was discovered that he had been arrested.

And there’s a third contestant who’s also been in trouble.  Trenyce (a.k.a. Lashundra Cobbins), was arrested for felony theft in Memphis in October of 1999.

These are our American idols?  These are the kids who our kids will look up to and want to emulate?   These are the stars in the making who might make it some day, despite their past indiscretions?  These are the kids who our kids will point to and say, “Mom, I want to be just like that!”

I know that young kids do things that they’ll regret some day.  But, we’re not talking about lifting a pack of gum from a convenience store, smoking in the girls’ room, or getting drunk with your friends when you’re fifteen.

Frenchie Davis was 18-years-old when she posed for those pictures.  Now 23, she says that she used the money to pay for tuition at Howard University, where she is a theater major. 

I know it’s tough to scrape up money for tuition.  But there are a lot of other options out there.  How about a waitress job?  How about student loans?  How about night school?  How about taking a couple of years off, working full-time, and stashing every nickel away until you have enough money for next semester? 

Posing topless on a Web site called, “Daddy’s Little Girls,” under the name “HoneyBrown” is something I would tell my daughter to do if she were being held by a serial killer in an abandoned farmhouse, with a gun to her head, a knife to her throat, bombs tied to her feet, and no possible way of escape.  I wouldn’t offer it to her as an option for paying her way through college.

I had my doubts about Corey Clark’s American Idol potential, when he showed up on the bus in L.A. with a massive hangover.  He was lucky the producers let him participate in the first real competition of the show, when they learned that, instead of rehearsing the night before, he was out drinking all night.  He redeemed himself in my eyes, however, when he seemed to buckle down and start doing his homework.  Some of his performances were dazzling.

Then came the news of Clark’s problems with the law.  It seems that he is facing trial in April on charges that he assaulted his teenage sister.  He also allegedly fought with the police who were trying to arrest him.  Clark only calmed down when the police threatened him with a stun gun.

Clark is charged with resisting arrest, battery upon his sister, and criminal restraint.  If convicted, he faces a maximum of a year in prison on two of the charges and a maximum of six months on the third.  It’s a good thing Fox found out about the charges before he could win the competition.  Of course, they could have done a remake of “Jailhouse Rock,” but it would have been pretty embarrassing for Fox, to say the least.

The charges were not Clark’s first brush with the law.  In April of 2000, he was sued by Wal-Mart for passing more than $600 in bad checks.  A year later, he passed another bad check for $50 at a Topeka grocery store.

I’m confused about why the American Idol producers have let Trenyce continue to be a contestant.  Maybe it’s because she’s cleaned up her act.  Instead of doing jail time, the court ordered Trenyce, now 22, to participate in a pre-trial diversion program, which is intended to give kids like Trenyce a second chance.  It’s been three years since her arrest, and she seems to have gotten back on track. 

These kids have talent, and lots of it.  There’s no doubt about that.  And I think they should be given the same opportunities as anyone else to pursue a recording career.  But, I don’t think that anyone who’s been arrested, who’s been caught stealing, or who’s posed naked on a kiddie-porn site should be held up as an example for our children on a show like “American Idol.”

If for nothing else, all those countries out there who don’t like us lately will have a field day when they find out whom America is “idolizing.” 

I think that Fox Television needs to screen their contestants much more carefully.  If there’s any doubt about a contestant’s character, they shouldn’t be allowed to move on to the next step.  It will save Fox a lot of future embarrassment, it will save their audience the experience of being “let down,”  and it will open up spots for kids who really deserve the title of “American Idol.”