Candice Glover looks stunning on ‘American Idol’.

If you follow The Lava Lizard or my personal Trini Trent page on Twitter, then you should know that I am an avid viewer of American Idol, not because of Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj’s feud, but because of the talent. Although this season of the show has been lukewarm at best, it has presented the opportunity for an interesting discussion.

Regardless of plummeting ratings, American Idol remains the stomping ground for the most gifted artists of the reality show circuit. Of those contestants, Candice Glover is undoubtedly the leader of the pack but as we’ve seen with Melanie Amaro on The X Factor (US), being vocal skill isn’t enough to sell records in the current era of music. Does mean that there is no hope for Glover? To answer that, we need to breakdown the true meaning of the series.

American Idol has served as a launching pad for some of the most impressive artists of the last decade, including Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. However, the none of the winners in recent years have been R&B – they’re all Pop, Rock and Country acts – and the last time an Urban artist won the show as Fantasia in 2004.

So, what does that mean for Glover? If the American Idol viewers vote based on talent and finally send Lazaro Arbos on his merry way, then Glover will be the rightful victor of the show. Yet, I didn’t just make that point about R&B acts just because I enjoy using the ‘&’ sign. The fans of American Idol represent a sample of the buying audience and judging by the decline of R&B during the last five years, their voting may swing in favour of the Country/Pop-oriented Kree Harrison or Janelle Arthur.

Still, let’s say Glover does manage to secure a victory on American Idol, will it mean that R&B will be relaunched into the upper regions of the Billboard charts? Sadly, will the declining popularity of the genre as well as the factors we’re about to address, that is highly unlikely.

In addition to being an R&B artist, Glover has several strikes against her, and she hasn’t even started her career. Firstly, she isn’t a basic Pop singer. When Glover performs, her runs and riffs exemplify classic Jazz as well as Blues arrangements, proving that she is a highly skilled vocalist.

That, however, won’t do her much good in a time when radio listeners reject complex melismas in favour of simple melodies and catchy hooks. Really, Adele is lauded as a great voice of her generation but her vocal performances are utterly dry when compared to those knotty showings by Celine Dion or Whitney Houston.

Secondly, Glover does not look like a Pop star. How many female artists weighing more than 130 pounds currently have a spot on the Billboard Hot 100? Once again, Adele’s name comes to mind but quite frankly, she is an anomaly. Her success was so incredible because it broke every industry ideal regarding the waist size of female acts, although it should be noted that she still endures heavy criticism in the media. Than darn Joan Rivers and her opinions.

This is where our third point come into play. What is the main difference between Glover and Adele? I’ll give you a hint: the opposite of black is…? Hopefully, you guessed the answer as ‘white’ because if you didn’t, I would lose all hope in the education system.

Yes folks, Adele is white and Glover is black or whichever politically correct term you wish to use. As much as some of you try to deny it, race/colour/ethnicity still plays a major role in the behaviour of consumers and unfortunately for Glover, she is on the wrong side of the tracks. Add that to her talent, which people ten years ago would have elevated instead of marginalised, her size and her genre of choice, and you get a quadruple negative regarding marketability.

If you need an active example of this then turn your attention to Jazmine Sullivan. She is about the same size as Glover, performs R&B similar vocal talent, she and even a comparable complexion. How much did her last album sell? When was the last time she scored a hit song beyond Urban radio? Now you get my point.

Hence, if Glover wins American Idol, she will face an uphill battle to success. Yes, her debut single will be the hit that all champions of the show enjoy but the chances of her maintaining that moment are less than stellar. I personally wish her the best but unless her label invests the time, money and energy needed to guarantee her longevity, I sense this will be another American tragedy.

I can’t even look.

Thoughts?