While I would not say Fox TV’s American Idol is in any danger of going away, I am fascinated by the fact that recent winners of the show have had major issues with their label -hello, Kelly Clarkson, or have been dropped by their labels. Both Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks got bad news for Christmas, as J Records has kicked them out the door.
Out of the six cycles the game show has gone through, not one of the winners has been able to sustain any sort of momentum. Of course, one would suspect that while these contestants can sing, they have no talent when it actually comes to writing songs. With exception of a few, most of the winners of the game show have songs written for them, and they’re groomed like dog for a wide, demographic audience. And its not the singer who propels the a song, it’s the words of that song people really care about.
While any singer would like to reach a huge audience, most find niches and in those niches, some moderate success - such as runner-up Chris Daughtry (who is taken, it seems, more seriously as a musician than a contestant on a game show) and Carrie Underwood, who’s had some success in the always light country/pop sound.
Sometimes, trying to find that broad-based audience can kill you; narrow it, and find success.
Plus, music is a very fickle business and American’s have short attention spans. They quickly forget who won before. So American Idol becomes not about choosing a great singer, but a pop cultural phenomena to be discussed in internet chat rooms and at work the next day. So with the seventh cycle to begin next week, to me then the game show is not about a talented singer winning a contact with a major music label, but just something to talk about over lunch -cause heaven forbid we have any actual conversation that broadens the mind.
Out of the six cycles the game show has gone through, not one of the winners has been able to sustain any sort of momentum. Of course, one would suspect that while these contestants can sing, they have no talent when it actually comes to writing songs. With exception of a few, most of the winners of the game show have songs written for them, and they’re groomed like dog for a wide, demographic audience. And its not the singer who propels the a song, it’s the words of that song people really care about.
While any singer would like to reach a huge audience, most find niches and in those niches, some moderate success - such as runner-up Chris Daughtry (who is taken, it seems, more seriously as a musician than a contestant on a game show) and Carrie Underwood, who’s had some success in the always light country/pop sound.
Sometimes, trying to find that broad-based audience can kill you; narrow it, and find success.
Plus, music is a very fickle business and American’s have short attention spans. They quickly forget who won before. So American Idol becomes not about choosing a great singer, but a pop cultural phenomena to be discussed in internet chat rooms and at work the next day. So with the seventh cycle to begin next week, to me then the game show is not about a talented singer winning a contact with a major music label, but just something to talk about over lunch -cause heaven forbid we have any actual conversation that broadens the mind.
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