Please explain "American Idol" to me

Okay, I am in need of some help here.

What in the hell is the big deal with "American Idol"? My DH is the most patient man in the world (think hours and hours of HGTV when I have control of the remote,) so I tried to humor him through tonight's episode. This is the first time I have ever seen this show, and I can tell you that it was the last. This is two hours of my life I'm never getting back.

Hello? Who WATCHES this crap?

I realize I am a music snob. I can sing. I had fairly extensive voice training as a teenager and throughout my 20's. I was also the only one of our friends who refused to participate in Bad Karaoke. At the same time, 99% of those on stage tonight couldn't find the key with assistance. THIS was the best of 70,000 auditions?

I also would like to note at this point that I find Simon repulsive.

What is it with this program?

Julie

But know people who won't even answer the phone when it's on.

Stupid show. :thumbsdown:

>Stupid show. :thumbsdown:<

It's nasty. It reminded me of half-price nacho night at the local watering hole, where people who'd consumed a bit too much Cuervo thought they were the next Jon Bon Jovi (or Garth Brooks).

I still can't hear "The Dance" without flashbacks.

Aaargh.

Julie

it's a talent show. It's a show-business tradition that goes way back.

I watched two episodes of it - last night's and (half) of tonight's.

I know that makes me not cool, but oh well. Fantasia's good.

>it's a talent show.<

What talent?

I liked Fantasia, she seems like a nice person. I don't know if she's a great singer.

Julie

like the show-business tradition I mentioned, it's an AMATEUR talent show.

I may not be as well-versed musically as you, but I think Fantasia sings very well. Great voice, nice style, good looks...

Does he have a show in development at FOX?

It was good to see Andy Richter.

Julie

I didn't see that. I only caught the last half of tonight's show.

I did notice Henry Winkler in the audience, though. :shrug:

Rupert won a million & there's nothing else to watch.

It's a way to have some kind of voter control.

It's more cuddly than Ashcroft press conferences.

People love watching the rejections.

Sheep need shepards. Even if they create them themselves.

people whose tastes differ from yours are sheep.

Please submit a log of all your recreational/leisure activities for the last month so we can all rate it for acceptability, coolness and all around correctness.

What does DH stand for? Dead Husband?

And, I think American Idol is stupid too!

>What does DH stand for? Dead Husband?<

Dear Husband. (Some women say "damn husband," but he's a pretty good guy.)

I have to admit, the show's makeup artist not recognizing Barry Manilow was quite humorous to me. (I'll bet she wouldn't make that mistake if they had Rick Astley on!)

Julie

Watching Survivor, ba-a-a-a-ah.

Watching My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, Ba-a-a-a-a-ah.

Watching Trading Spaces, Ba-a-a--a-ah.

Posting to this forum, ba-a-a-a-ah.

Getting turned on by your annoyance, hee hee.

Wasting my insomnia by surfing the net.

I'm used to the "I'm-cooler-than-you" crowd weighing in on every popular tv show/movie/recording artist/whatever.

As I said, I watched one and a half episodes of American Idol - I'm not a "fan". I've responded the same way to threads about shows I've never ever seen.

I just like to point out the arrogance exhibited by people who feel compelled to mock other people's entertainment choices. I've never understood the desire to do that. Is it just a way to show how cool you are?

get a bunch of people together that have been deemed to be qualified for the honor by so called experts.

Make sure that most of the applicants can be viewed by the masses as being no better than or less qualifed than most of the people that make up said masses.

Now hold several public but staged preformances that are scripted in such a way to promote the most controversy and eliminate anyone that might be capable or worthy of the honor.

Next create some sort of event that allows the masses to think they are participating in the selection of the person who will get the honor.

Last announce the " Winner " that unknown to the masses is totally controlled by the people that orginally decided who got to enter the game and ultimately picked the winner.

Sorry if that too close to what happens in the American Idol show
( only watched one show )
it might not happen that way, but this is for all intents and purposes what happens every 4 years in America.

I'm even more in awe of you now.

:-)

I'm the biggest unpaid critic of my own life and I get paid less to argue with forum posters.

it's only a TV show, it'll go away soon!!

the light of a recording studio, even in this utterly artistically dumbed down society, go on TV to perform for a totally deranged American public who wouldn't know art if it harshly bit them on the ass, and that clueless, processed-food absorbing American public then spends they're hard-earned money to make phone calls to vote for the least vapid (though they think they're voting for the "most talented person I've ever seen!!!!") "performer", and then that POS no-talent hack gets to have a recording contract, and some measure of celebrity fame, and perhaps even become a millionaire, which the idiot would never have achieved on a meritocracy based system, even within the low-brow art-hating American system that we already had.

And these same people are the ones who are able, with a straight face, to ask "Why do they hate us?" and "God Bless America!"

:puke:

Clay Aiken? I've listened to two of his CDs. Pure shit. And I say that as one who hates pop music, and really doesn't like country music, but can generally listen to it if I have to. But Clay? Totally intolerable. Last Christmas time, I had to watch a couple episodes, including one that I guess had the current top 8 performers - every fershlugginer one of them was intolerable. I mean, I hate Brittney, I think beyonce is a total sham, I think hip hop and rap are totally corporate made-up forms that are only interested in money - but if I have to, I can listen. The American Idol people are truly, simply, utterly intolerable.

I've been to junior high talent shows that were better than that crap.

But the truth is, if someone actually had talent, they would have the integrity not to appear on that show.

The only honest judge is the guy, don't know his name, who is willing to say "Wow, that really sucked. Bye."

But neither you nor I are stupid enough to understand such a thing.

I'm glad. :)

I guess I'm waaaay behind in my TV viewing.

...no amount of explaining will help you.

By the way, as a self-confessed "music snob" let me tell you this. I'm a graduate of the renowned Oberlin Conservatory of Music. So that oughta mean something to a "trained" singer like yourself, right? In addition, I've been a professional pianist and singer for about 15 years. To me, the show is 90% unwatchable, including 99.9% of tonight's show. But there is the occasional standout performance that makes a show worth watching. (although not tonight). You should try to download Fantasia's rendition of "Summertime," for example.

By the way, refusing to participate in Bad Karaoke is not the measure of a good musician or a music snob or someone with "extensive voice training." In my humble opinion, "refusing to participate in bad karaoke" is simply evidence that someone needs to loosen up a little.


EDIT: In my educated, professional musician's opinion, Simon is almost always exactly right in his comments. My complaint is that he's not nasty enough to some of these people!

And I am also a graduate of a music conservatory. I don't want to say which because I want to retain an ounce of anonymity here. And I sang professionally for many years.

I nearly always agree with Simon as well.

"New" talent is "discovered" all the time, but who in the hell will rush out to buy a new person's CD?? No one except their families.. It costs lots of money to promote them too...so some genius came up with the "perfect scheme"..

Sign 3 or 4 pretty good singers, and instead of just giving them a contarct, you have them "compete"...The "fans" get all lathered up, and due to "vapor voting", the "right ones" hang around until there's a frenzy going on about the 3 or 4 singers.. By that time, they have a following, and even when there is ONE BIG winner, their "fans" are lined up to buy CDs from the losers too..

The record companies have spent very little, and they have guaranteed sales..

It's RIGGED...FIXED...whatever you want to call it..

It's MARKETING...plain and simple

But it's fun watching the show to see actual talent creep through. Fantasia is that talent. The stupid final show is always corny and Brady Bunch like. I only watched the very end to make sure that the right person won. And she did.

Instead I was watching some crappy Law and Order episode that made war protestors out to be criminals. I may consider not watching that tripe again.

I like watching the show on occasion, it's not so bad, it's light-hearted t.v. What's the crime? Oh, I also watch documentaries, the discovery channel, and the history channel. I have many interests and am certainly not stupid. Maybe reality t.v. is a bit of an escape for people at times? :shrug:

Back to Fantasia, I never understood the fascination. It was mentioned on the net that she sounds like Donald Duck on helium, and I have to say that that about sums it up. ;) :D :nuke: The judges HAD to pump her up to an extent, after the earlier "scandal", to make the show "credible" again. The nonsense about racism was laughable.

And I don't think that people are going to be running out and buying the CD's either. People may vote 10 or 15 times for their favourite, and that gets translated into "there's so much support for this person! Look at all the votes!", but these people won't go out in hoards to buy their favourite's CD. :( They just wanted to have their little say and vote.

People have said that she sings through her nose (sometimes true) or not on pitch (not true). Then again there are some really popular singers out there that I don't get at all. I get Fantasia. It's my prerogative.

I also like Melissa Etheridge and Janis Joplin, neither of whom have traditional, pure vocal talents. They do have character and charisma and uniqueness.

I may not run out and buy Fantasia's album, but I am glad she won this opportunity that she never could have gotten on her own.

I believe that Clay has sold more than 2 million copies and Ruben has sold something like 1.7 million. I don't know how many Kelly Clarkson sold, but she had a couple of hits.

People are buying this stuff.

OK, my wife and daughter have been following AI since about mid-season, and I watched for the first time Tuesday night. It seems that these "record executives" are looking for a very specific type of performer to sign to a contract. It's all about the next Celine Dion. If your strength is not urban contemporary, if you can't sing a high note REALLY LOUDLY with a ton of vibrato and hold it for a couple of bars at least, you're out. If you can't stretch a single syllable of the lyric over an impossibly overwrought mellismatic phrase that lasts for fifteen or twenty seconds, you're out. Just comparing this season's crop with artists who actually made it via the traditional route (write songs, play clubs, make demos, work your ass off for no money for years, somehow get lucky) is informative, I think. There's no way that Norah Jones or Sarah McLachlan or Jewel or Dido or Pink would have lasted past the first cut on AI. I'm not saying that these women are "great artists" or anything, I'm simply saying that they sell a lot of product, but do not fit the AI mold. Never mind what would have happened to someone like Joni Mitchell or Janis Joplin Nina Simone... any of these truly great artists would have been openly mocked by Simon Sez.

Having said that, I think Fantasia has a pretty cool voice, even if her style is trite. She's got that growl and crack in her tone that comes on when she really pushes, it's something you hear in Tina Turner's voice, and I personally love that quality in a rock singer. She should go to a harder style of music, she could be a more rockin' Macy Gray, and she could do well. Diana seemed like a really nice girl, I liked how gracious she was at all times to her supporters... she showed a lot of poise for a sixteen-year-old. Latoya sounded the most like the current bland crop of women R&B singers, she'll move some product I'm sure.

What I like about the show is that it does give some kind of chance to people who otherwise would probably never make it out of the lounge circuit. What I don't like about the show is that most of the contestants, and indeed the winners, probably belong in the lounge circuit (see Kelly Clarkson). Do we really need a mechanism like AI to help our culture to manufacture more hackneyed urban contemporary music?

you're right about Fantasia. She should be doing more soulful rock. But I'm a huge Tina Turner AND Macy Gray fan. I just loves them growls.

I'd like to see them find the next Minnie Riperton.

Except for the clips I have seen on the news, I have never watched the show. It's just more television fluff which doesn't personally bother me.
The music and performances I have seen the clips of are not my bag, but some people like that stuff. It's the Yin and Yang of the industry. Music is a very personal feeling and should be regarded as such before we go around judging people's taste in it.
There is no such thing as music snobbery, it's just your taste on what is pleasant to your ears and emotions.
It's just a television show that doesn't effect your life either way unless you decide you want it to. If that's the case, then blame yourself for not liking it, not the other people who do like it. Change channels or turn the TV off. That's what I do...and it works for me every time.

What are you, some sort of well-adjusted person or something?

:-)

who was so badly off key the other night, said the stage had dead spots where she couldn't hear herself in relation to the music.

People enjoy competitions, I guess. I do think Fantasia is talented.

:evilgrin:

:)