After months of rumors, the new hosts of "The X Factor" were officially announced two weeks ago. Mario Lopez and Khloe Kardashian will be introducing the vocal hopefuls and keeping things moving when the judges drone on when the live rounds of the competition kick off on Wednesday night.
But just moments after The Clicker shared the big news, our readers chimed in with some strong opinions on our Facebook page.
"What qualifications does Khloe Kardashian have? She is nothing a nobody. Famous for being what.. Nothing," wrote Becky Killion.
"Get rid of Khloe! Give Slater another co-host!" Felix Brown added.
And frankly, those were some of the nicer comments.
The question is: Why all the criticism for Khloe? This is a hosting gig, not the role of judge, coach or mentor. Given the sheer number of boob-tube hours Khloe's logged between "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," "Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami" and "Khloe and Lamar," surely she can handle being a co-host.
But there seems to be something else at play in the reactions some have had to the news -- sort of a general Kardashian overload.
Those who keep up with the Kardashians only when the clan hits the gossip pages are no doubt at least a little familiar with the most famous members of the family -- the trio of brunette sisters who share the spotlight on more than one E! show. But those same folks often don't really know the gals as individuals. Kim, Kourtney, Khloe ... "What's the difference?" they think.
That means each Kardashian gets painted with the same broad-brush reputation. But alas, despite the family resemblance, the sisters are far from the same.
Kim is, without a doubt, the primary headline-grabber of the bunch. Relationships, marriages, diets, designer duds -- she's been through them all.
Kourtney's the family girl who occasionally makes magazine covers too. Of course, the devoted mother of two has what some may consider questionable taste when it comes to the father of those little ones. Thus the magazine covers -- and a hefty amount of comments from her siblings.
And then there's Khloe. Sure, she's been in the tabloid spotlight as well. First -- and most notably -- for her whirlwind relationship and subsequent marriage (after just a month) to NBA player Lamar Odom. The general consensus among gossip rags (and the general public) at the time was that the union wouldn't last as long as ... well, the marriage big sister Kim swept through with now ex-husband Kris Humphries. But three years later? Khloe and Lamar are still going strong.
The next most frequent Khloe-related topic to hit headlines is her struggle to start a family. Hardly a salacious topic, Khloe's shared some of her fertility troubles on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and discussed it further in interviews.
Oh, and there's one more thing about Khloe that makes celebrity news -- her waistline. She looks great, but she's not a sample-size model or TV tiny, and it seems in Tinseltown, that's practically a crime. But she doesn't apologize for it (even when mom Kris Jenner is the one doing the insulting) and she doesn't go on drastic diets to turn it around for the pleasure of the press.
Khloe's no "bad girl." She's no gossip queen. She's just ... Khloe. Fans of the Kardashian franchise of reality shows often consider her the most relatable twig on the family tree. She's the one you'd want to hang out with, go shopping with, talk about guys with and snark about frienemies with.
So for those who are only peripherally familiar with Khloe, don't judge her before you get to know her. She might bring something special to "The X Factor" and provide an entertaining balance between the onstage performances and the comments from Simon Cowell and the rest of the panel. Or she might flop. Who knows?
Either way, she deserves a chance to show what she can do on a different sort of reality TV show than the ones she's so used to.
Viewers will get to see just how Khloe handles her new job when she joins "The X Factor" on Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. on Fox.
Will you give Khloe Kardashian -- and her co-host Mario Lopez -- a shot on "The X Factor"? Or has the casting news turned you off the singing competition? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.
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- Simon Cowell on 'X Factor' cut off: It was 'a total $#&@ up'
- Khloe Kardashian and Mario Lopez are 'X Factor's' new hosts
- L.A. Reid throws a tantrum on 'X Factor'
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