Geography Quiz

[Centaur]

Is she smarter than a fifth grader? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THyTnt00b5I

[chrissy]

she must live on a little planet, in a box if she knows what one looks like!

[Centaur]

she must live on a little planet, in a box if she knows what one looks like!

Kellie Pickler (21) has become a highly successful Country & Western singer following her sixth place finish in the 2006 series of American Idol television programs. Her appearance on Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader was taped in August of last year and aired in November. I suspect she is also a good actress who demonstrated her considerable talent on that quiz show. Playing a dingbat seems to have endeared her to her fans and she knows it. The popularity of the You Tube clip that you saw has enhanced her fame.

No one is that much of a ditz. A young person who quickly parlayed sixth place on American Idol into a multi-million dollar career cannot be that dumb. It’s not unusual for an adult American to not know that Budapest is the capital of Hungary. I knew it, but many would have forgotten in the years after school days. Hungary hasn’t been in our news very often over the last fifty years. How many Europeans know which U.S. state with a population and area greater than Hungary has Springfield as its capital?

A typical person not knowing about Budapest would have simply responded, “I don’t know; I’ll accept the fifth grader’s answer.” Instead, Kellie raised her arms to indicate that she had no idea, and then spent three minutes revealing a train of thought that had the audience rolling in laughter, yet left her unbothered.

Kellie and her agent probably realized that playing an airhead on American Idol enhanced her appeal, especially with people in that part of the U.S. partial to her Country & Western music. That would be those in the southeastern and Rocky Mountain states who voted for Bush. I’m sure she did not want to purposely lose any money for the charity she represented. But it would not surprise me, if Kellie and her agent had agreed it would be a good idea to pretend to be Gracie Allen whenever she became stumped for an answer. I suspect that Kellie is not only a cute and talented singer, but also a fine actress.

[chrissy]

How many Europeans know which U.S. state with a population and area greater than Hungary has Springfield as its capital?

hmmmmmmmmmm will that be the U.S state of Illinois with an estimated population of 116,482 recorded in 2006!
originally called Calhoun after the vice president John.C.Calhoun!

No one is that much of a ditz.

erm !i like to beg to differ on that!

[Centaur]

hmmmmmmmmmm will that be the U.S state of Illinois with an estimated population of 116,482 recorded in 2006!
originally called Calhoun after the vice president John.C.Calhoun!

Is that how you would have answered while standing at the podium without any research material? Nice try, but good research would have provided better answers. My home state of Illinois had a population of 12.4 million in the 2000 census. I didn't notice so many people fleeing since then. Illinois was never called Calhoun, although that was once the name of the state capital. Hmmm?

[Doodler]

No one is that much of a ditz. A young person who quickly parlayed sixth place on American Idol into a multi-million dollar career cannot be that dumb.

I would hesitate to call anyone in the entertainment industry individually smart, considering the level of polishing and marketing done by labels these days. Entertainers are not people, they are product.

[chrissy]

just glad that you edited what you had wrote and called me centaur!
just want to know why you put this on fun and games ? should it not be best suited for babbling? as here its fun and games where we want to get away from the arguments!
all i can say for her is good for her if she wants to look stupid infront of millions of people, but having money doesnt give you more intelligence!

[Centaur]

just want to know why you put this on fun and games ? should it not be best suited for babbling? as here its fun and games where we want to get away from the arguments!

For anyone who reads my post that initiated this thread, this forum would have seemed reasonably appropriate. Obviously you are much more familiar than I am with this particular message board, so I'll bow to you on that one. However, it's your responses in this thread that seem to have sent the discussion in a direction that may have caused you discomfort.

[chrissy]

I went on here because i thought it was an intelligent quiz for geography, why would i feel discomfort , you wanted an opinion from the clip you posted and i gave mine !
I think your reaction was a bit more on the defence and you didnt like what i wrote and i think there must be a crush with her for you to go to what you had said, unless you know someone personally you cant say if they are pretending to be dumb or intelligent and what you made out was she was every thing!

[Centaur]

...i think there must be a crush with her for you to go to what you had said...

She's young enough to be my granddaughter. I assure you there is no crush. I far prefer highly intelligent women.

[Sarawak]

as here its fun and games where we want to get away from the arguments!

I think those people always having arguments and getting into fights are envious of our superior lifestyle here in Fun-n-Games.

[toejam]

Maybe a Mod will move this to Babbling, see if anyone there thinks the OP worth discussing, it sure does not belong on F&G.