clap on clap off

The Curious Case of American Idol’s Mime Applauder

Last night, after Siobhan Magnus’s closing performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,†American Idol cut to the traditional shot of the contestant’s friends and/or family wildly applauding. Her lead “friend†seemed particularly ecstatic about her song, going through all of the motions of fervent clapping except one: His hands seemed to slow down just short of connecting, which really is the linchpin for making the clapping sound. A careful study of the video indicates that this man is either a plainclothes mime, or he was making a metaphorical statement that once ears have heard her transcendent vocalization, it is not worth anyone ever making a sound again.

The Curious Case of American Idol’s Mime Applauder