Why do very talented people go on American Idol?

Simon Fuller, the producer (and NOT Simon Cowell, the judge), owns 50% of ALL the contestant's future earnings. For life. It's an unheard-of arrangement.

If you're quite talented, wouldn't you be better off just trying to hit it big on your own? Even if you lose, you're still in the bag with Fuller for half of your life earnings.

It's pretty dang hard to get discovered.

Yeah, 50% is HUGE, but 50% of millions is still more than most of them would ever see in a lifetime without the exposure they get from the show.

but winning American Idol is a real long-shot, too. If the obscene cut only applied to the winners, it'd make sense to me. But getting knocked out early, then having to give up half the dough seems like a bad bet.

I saw half of it last night. A woman named Fantasia was quite talented. Great voice, great looks, great style, great interpretation.

They know they can make a career on their own.

It's the half-assers that need to help of a media circus to make them famous, knowing they won't become famous based on their talent. They get recording deals because they won American Idol, or were on American Idol, not because of any intrinsic merit in their talent.

(of course there are exceptions)

The music industry screws all talent. The only difference is these folks know who is screwing them.

but 15% would be the usual screwage fee.

Bandleader Harry James had a similar arrangement with one of his young male singers - a skinny kid from Hoboken named Frank Sinatra. Frank had to get that contract nullified to move on to the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

A 19 year old black single mother typically doesn't have the means or wherewithal to break into the music business. in order to give it a serious shot she has to start performing regularly somewhere to build some kind of fan base. then she has to come up with the money to record a good demo. then she has to get it into the hands of someone probably in nashville or LA. that demo is not going to show her charisma. this could end up costing her a lot of money for production and travel. she also runs the risk of getting scammed. in the end if her demo isn't killer or if whomever hears it, doesn't like it, she's back at square 1.

conversely, if she's on american idol, everyone gets to see her perform and get a sense of the whole package. like the show or not, some amazingly talented kids rise to the top whether they win or not. they build a fan base and it only costs them the price of getting to that first audition. some may say that that's well worth 50% of whatever they get.

It ain't so easy to make it big on one's own.

Also... that seems like an odd contract. Life? Seems like that would be illegal. Do you have a link?

http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/20/pf/saving/american_idol_cash/

toward the bottom it says:

Contestants sign away a wide variety of rights in perpetuity, from their singing to use of their likeness. When the standard "Idol" contract was leaked and appeared on a Web site, one entertainment lawyer called it "the worst rendition of the industry."

I've read the 50% figure in other articles.

One of the losers did a brief spot on Letterman a few weeks ago. He was not allowed to sing, although Letterman kept trying to get him to. He's effectively owned by Fuller.

in which (I'm speaking mainly entertainment and sports) there are huge awards and rewards to those at the very top, and practically nothing for anyone else. Think about it. No one pays to hear a concert by the St Swythen's Boys' Choir, no matter how talented the soloist. The cost of going to a minor-league baseball game is so low largely because the players are paid very little. And the minor league teams exist solely to provide talent to the major leagues. (Basketball and Football have colleges to serve the same function.

In the past, there were many more decently paid jobs for pretty-good performers. Vaudeville provided a living for many. In the early days of television a lot of local talent was seen, although only locally. Nowadays almost every show is a national show.

The stakes are very different, and there are a lot of people out there with reasonable talent who want to live the American Dream. Hence, shows like American Idol.

95% of jobs go to someone somebody knows. Talent is barely an issue. "Getting discovered" isn't just hard, its probability is statistically insignificant. There is no "making it" on your own, through sheer force of talent. It is a myth. Family connections and general social proximity to the gatekeepers is the only way. If your parents are rich, you can sort of buy your way in.

There's a saying here in Hollywood: if you don't like watching talent go to waste, you're living in the wrong town.

talentless, bleached noodle blah singers on the planet.

Cowell's sense of star quality is mediocre at best and no performers he's ever groomed have stood the test of time; they're ALL a flash in the pan.

I still cannot figure out how clay aiken made it ON stage... just appallingly revolting, he and that other chick are like mcdonalds of music. They fatten you up, give you a calorie rush and leave you empty.

WAKE UP SND SMELL THE COFFEE

The show is rigged.
The show is manipulated in such a way as to
generate the most controversy and water cooler talk the next day.