As we were putting the kids to bed last night, my wife had the TV-Guide listings on her computer. I had glanced at the screen as I walked past and noticed an images advertising American Idol. Like many folks, we watched part of the first couple of seasons. I remember the season with Carrie Underwood beating out Bo Bice and I saw snippets of the season with Taylor Hicks and Katrina McPhee....(I think that was their names) but nothing since. And as I walked past my wife's computer, I remembered why.
Was it the Judges?
No. Although Ryan Seacrest should be replaced by someone with some talent, I won't digress into that. So....it wasn't because of the judges, I actually did enjoy the commentary from Simon. Not because he was intentionally cruel, but because he spoke straight up: honest and to the point. It was very refreshing. I dabbled in film and theatre for a few years and found the non-confrontational demeanor of Randy and Paula very reminiscant of the false-faced backstabbing world of entertainment. Their weak-willed, awful, mealymouthed manner was a perfect non-confrontational manner of deceit. And I've dealt with a lot of lies. I come from the school of thought that if the contestant sucked, then they sucked. Come out and let them know it, they deserve to know. Inform them why you felt it was awful, where they really bottomed out and what they can do to improve.
Was it the contestants?
Not precisely, but it does dove-tail into the reason. For starters, have you ever read the requirements for auditioning? Along with the typical "your identity and every bit of likeness thereof shall belong to us" disclaimer, I remember reading (from the official web-site) that you had to be under 40 years old. Hmmm...I don't think that someone 41 years of age that auditioned wearing a cap on his head that displayed the numbers "40" could get by with saying "Yes, I'm under 40." But I'd like to see it. Do the producers want someone younger because they are more pliable? Will possess more stamina, ergo, providing them with more money? That reminded me of when I brought the show up to a friend of mine who possesses a diva voice. I had asked her why she had not auditioned for American Idol when they were in town. She obviously has one of the best voices in town.
She informed me "Because tall, over-weight white chicks would get voted off."...well. She put that to the point straight away, that's for certain.
And so, the program has a set criteria, and has churned out many artists that I consider to be from a similar mold. And THAT is the problem. I'm exceedingly grateful that those that shaped our music today were never forced to make it or break it on that show. Our music would be different...so VERY limited by comparison.
And with that, I present unto you (in alphabetical order) a top-10 list regarding some of our the most influential singer's and songwriters that would have never succeed on American Idol. In fact, it is quite possible that half of them would never make it past the initial audition.~!! These are people who shaped the music we listen to today...
#1) Jim Croce (They'd never allow his cigarettes and booze on stage.)
#2) Bob Dylan (They would have instantly disqualified him for not being able to hold a tune.)
#3) Ella Fitzgerald (A large black woman singing Jazz has not done well on that show.)
#4) Odetta Holmes (If her voice voice doesn't take you into a dream-land...you must already be dead...but being a civil rights activist, they'd never let her on.)
#5) Janis Joplin (Her raw talent would get her forward, but then her back-stage / hotel room antics would create a ruckus. The producers would let her stay on the show because of the ratings, but they'd cut her before they made the top ten.)
#6) Mark Knopfller (Guitar playing is his strong-suit. He's the kind of bloke you'd never look at twice on the street otherwise.)
#7) Annie Lennox (If she went on looking "Emily Post" then she would probably ace the show. However, that is not her motif.)
#8) Kyle Minogue (I can't remember the name of the hit she had (was there more than one?), but if I recall, her voice lacked power and was flat. Hmmm...maybe its okay have a flat voice of you show off parts that are not flat.)
#9) Tom Waits (One of the most clever song-writers ever, I would really enjoy him performing a rendition of "The Piano Has Been Drinking", mentioning the Judges in the song...)
#10 Frank Zappa (People that don't like Frank, or appreciate his work have never really sat down and listened to his work! And the context of his work is exactly why only Simon would be the only one to like him.)
Here endith the blog...
===============================================
No comments:
Post a Comment