No Comments
A few short years ago, some network exec was sitting in his office listening to someone with an idea pitch for a reality show concept. It was based on the mass appeal of the new wave of the "reality" TV series phenomena that was sweeping the networks. Reality shows were like money in the bank to the networks.
So the network exec listened to the pitch about an amateur pop star singing competition where real people would audition to sing in front of a panel of judges. Of course, the cameras would be capturing everything for the TV audience.
These judges would choose some of the amateur vocalists, send them off to Hollywood to compete against each other every week for the grand prize of a major recording contract and a lot of fanfare, etc. Somehow, through the process of elimination, they would end the show with one singer left. This singer would be the next "American Idol."
Well, the network exec must have loved the idea of American Idol. It launched it’s first season in June of 2002. The show is going as strong as ever and millions upon millions are glued to the TV every night that the show is aired.
If you have never heard of american idol at all, then you have been in deep seclusion somewhere. The show is aired throughout much of the world and millions of young singers want to audition for American Idol every season when they hold open auditions.
Many thousands of hopefuls will crowd themselves into long lines when open auditions are held to have a shot at standing before Randy, Paula and Simon to give it their best shot. Of course, these judges do not have the time to hear almost a million "wanna be" pop stars audition for them. Insiders will tell you, the fastest way to stand in front of this elite panel is to be very eccentric to the point you stand out from everyone else or have a heart wrenching story that will touch them.
In the end, we might watch American Idol and most of us will even believe we are all watching contestants that are the best vocalists that America has to offer. I’m not sure these are the best singers in America. And TV is reflective, it is an illusion. Most of the reality based shows we all watch are very illusionary. American Idol is no exception to the illusion rule. Even if you purchased American Idol tickets and saw the show live, it still really is an illusion.
Do viewers watch American Idol to see what the judge panel is going to say and do, or for the talent the contestants are going to provide? It is a toss up between these two variables. You cannot separate the judges or contestants from this equation.
Randy is the only judge on American Idol’s panel of judges that truly has the personality and experience to be impartial. randy has the chops in the industry firsthand. Randy knows what it really takes to make it. His musical resume is respected by every class act in the industry because he has played with almost all of them, or produced them at some time.
Paula is Paula. She is definitely there for moral support to the contestants, but Paula could not judge a pie eating contest without becoming confused. Between the pies and contestants, Paula would eventually choose the cutest boy with a blueberry mustache as the winner.
Simon might be the only judge on American Idol that is there for the single purpose of ego and money. Could anyone argue that Simon is a an industry hyena? The man simply loves to go in for the kill when the singer is most vulnerable for attack. Simon is the vulture that takes pleasure in trying to kill contestants after they are already crushed. This judge is the most popular of the three judges for all of the wrong reasons.
Fair and impartial are not a part of Simon’s vocabulary. He feeds off of the negativity that he draws from all. Simon loves to pull the strings on everyone for his own gain. He is so popular, not because Simon is so wise, but because we feed into his ego and hype. Here is a man that is very proud of his own shortcomings.
American Idol is the dream that plays into an ideal that all you have to have is a voice, be young and appealing, get discovered, become famous and make a lot of money. This scenario plays out on some of MTV products as well. But these are false ideals that American Idol helps to play into our culture. These false ideals are misleading simply because they are illusions, not real values.
As a whole, this pop culture industry is ruled by the "board of directors" that American Idol is certainly a big part of. Many of Idol’s past contestants learned from their experiences within this fish bowl mentality. Some of these contestants that had "real" talent went on to do it their own way.
Kelly Clarkston provided one of the most insightful examples of American Idol’s ideal. After winning, Kelly was treated to the recording contract and all of the frills that went with it. Her first album had a number 1 debut on Billboard, but in the real life world of the music industry, she was not taken seriously.
Kelly had real talent and saw what she had bought into with the American Idol hype. Kelly walked away from this "dream machine" she found herself a part of. She broke free of this stigma and went on to produce "Break Away".
Today, while American Idol’s main goal is to shape someone like Clay into an icon, Kelly broke free of this spell and gets her Grammy nominations like many others do - on their own merits.
Tags: american idol tickets | american idol tickets | kelly clarkson | kelly clarkson | american idol | simon cowall | simon cowall | paula abdul | paula abdul | fox tv | fox tv | randy | rany | rany
