No Rock And Roll Fun

WE'LL KEEP VOTING UNTIL YOU GET THE RIGHT ANSWER: So, as Britain tries to contain its excitement at getting to vote on a European Constitution, most people are just a little worried that if we don't deliver the answer Tony Blair wants, we'll be forced back to the polls every Thursday for another go. Certainly, the strongest argument in favour of a Yes vote (besides, of course, that it makes perfect sense and is a good idea) is because nobody wants to spend the rest of Blair's time as PM being berated for having rejected the idea. Because give people a free choice, and sometimes they'll fuck it up, as American Idol viewers demonstrated. Surely its the first time a vote has been so stupid that even the host starts to berate the people who called in? Ryan Seacrest started to admonish the audience after they kicked out Jennifer Hudson:

and left in Charles Kennedy:

Erm, John Stevens, whose sole saving grace was that he's a nice bloke. Of course, with such a bizarre decision being made, there's piles of conspiracy theories circulating: racism, obviously; but also Hudson's home town had been experiencing a storm which cut their phone lines and TVs while the show aired, costing her potentially thousands of votes in what was a very close call.

We're not sure, though, why the Americans are surprised that the blank, empty eyes of a nice-but-dim young boy are staring at the prize: surely they knew that was part of the format when they bought it?