American Idol cast-off Carly Smithson may have sealed her own fate in choosing to perform Superstar from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, a song choice suggested by Webber himself.
Carly had originally chosen to perform All I Ask of You from Webber’s Phantom of The Opera, but was talked out of the choice and into Superstar by guest mentor Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Jesus Christ Superstar ignited a lot of controversy upon its premiere in the early 1970s because of its untraditional portrayal of Jesus. The rock opera debuted as an album in 1970 before being staged on Broadway and later in London. A movie adaptation was produced in 1973.
TV Squad picks up on an article in today’s New York Times.
Surely Webber recalls the furor the album and subsequent stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar wrought from some religious groups when it first came out. While, as the Times piece indicates, the sensitivity over its controversial nature has waned in the passing decades, it has not died out. Just as many say Kristy Lee Cook’s rendering of “God Bless the USA” rallied a certain sect of the population to vote for her and keep her around longer, it’s certainly possible that Carly’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” had the exact opposite effect.
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