American Idol

It's that time of year again. American Idol just kicked off a sixth season that promises to be just as successful as it has been in the past. It's not surprising the show has already started attract criticism and comment. Earlier this morning, as I was watching the Today show, I saw an interview with two American Idol hopefuls, or should I say former hopefuls. It seems that they had a complaint against the judges on the show. The complaint - quite simply, the judges are mean.

By now most anyone that watches the show likely knows the story. Two hopefuls, Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Briggs, met while awaiting their shot at fame and sort of bonded. Neither did particularly well, at least in the judge's opinion, during their auditions. Buried somewhere within Jayne there may be a pleasant voice but it really didn't come out in his audition. Briggs simply shouldn't be a singer and who ever has told him he should has done him a disservice. However, Briggs did apparently provided a great deal of humor for the judges and elicited some pointed remarks from Simon Cowell, one in particular liked Briggs, in appearance, to a creature with bulging eyes that Cowell called a Bush Baby. When Jayne, who is not exactly svelte, entered the room he was greeted with the question as to whether he had taken judge Randy Jackson's pants [for those few of you out there that don't remember, Jackson isn't exactly svelte himself and while he has trimmed down, I believe the transformation was in part due to gastric bypass surgery.] The point being, the judges didn't exactly bite their tongues when these two contestants were in the room and now people are mad that the judges are being mean.

Really now. But then again, it made for great television, but people are overreacting and not just a little bit.
Back to the Today Show interview.

Mr. Briggs presents an interesting approach to his dilemma. He's clearly enjoying his extended 15 minutes and has been making the rounds of the talk shows. His complaint was that Simon Cowell made him feel lower than dirt and that he is owed an apology. Interesting position as Mr. Briggs is certainly having no problem trying to cash in on being made to feel like dirt. From the segment that ran on the Today Show, it appears that some other viewers are upset as well. Apparently a number of folks that were interviewed as a part of the segment felt that Cowell, and Randy Jackson, were both just too mean. However there weren't many people who said they would stop watching the program. Fox, the network, while asked, didn't participate in the interview.

The question I have is, "Does this really surprise anyone?" From day one, American Idol has pushed the envelope on the critiques of the contestants. And let's not forget, it isn't unusual for tens of thousands of people to show up in hopes of becoming the next American Idol. With the masses that show up there will be talented individuals, those that don't quite make it and the William Hungs of the world. You remember him. The Asian kid who actually made Ricky Martin sound worse that Ricky Martin. He was hammered by the judges, but was actually the first contestant that year to receive a record deal. Of the throngs that show up for the auditions around the country, they go through a number of pre-auditions well before they actually get to the final trio of judges. It is my theory that those that end up before the final three judges are either the upper echelon of the performers that are sure things to the next round, those that are a close call on being passed through to the next round and the absolute worst of the worst. Why? This makes for good television and good television makes for great ratings. Remember great ratings means dollars, lots of dollars. So again, "Does this really surprise anyone?"

I am certainly not advocating that people, judges or not, be intentionally mean to people. However, when someone decides to enter into a competition, a reality television competition at that, there are certain, dare I say 'realities' that must be accepted. The first reality is something that I touched on above - ratings. A television show is only as good as its last episode and a show like American Idol has shown over the last five seasons that they will push the envelope to top the last show and achieve ratings. They keep it fresh and keep getting the viewers. The second reality is that given the history and progression of the show, no individual contest needs to go into a reality show with a Simon Cowell as a judge and let their feelings get hurt. Sure Cowell dishes it out, but he's rarely wrong and when he does make mistakes, he generally acknowledges them. If you don't have thick skin, stay at home and watch it with the rest of us. Finally, the reality of the entire thing is that as far as I know, every contestant is there voluntarily. I'm pretty sure American Idol doesn't send out invitations. You can't really voluntarily submit to a process such as this and then expect an apology when you get blasted. If you get mad at anyone, get mad at those that encouraged you to appear on the show. If you don't want to get mad at these people, then at least ask them to finance your recording career.

So this leaves us with two competing forces. The contestants who got their feelings hurt and the judges on the show. I think a quick examination of the realities of this situation will put it in perspective. Every time the offended contestants end up on television their American Idol clips have been shown. These really are awful clips, I mean; I haven't heard that either of these guys has had a record company A&R executive offer then a record deal. I'm also yet to hear of anyone saying either Jayne or Briggs deserved to be cleared through to the next round. Since the two keep milking their 15 minutes, they certainly don't seem to mind the attention. Heck, Jayne even said on the Today show that he just thought the judges were being television stars. Seems he understands the ratings game. It would actually be a bit more impressive if these two contestants had just faded back into reality and stayed away from the story. Instead, these two have agents, so it appears pretty clear they want to capitalize on the situation. As a side note, you should check out the video clips of the two on youtube.com - if you haven't seen it, it is a good way to waste 10 or 15 minutes at work. The comments left there make Simon Cowell look like the King of Bedside Manner. The second point here to consider is American Idol. Sure they are taking some criticism on this issue, but look at the timing. Two auditions in Seattle aired last week on Fox. Ratings were huge. The judges slammed some auditions that were, in reality, pretty awful - and yes - a couple of the judges got a little personal. Well, we've had a week for the press machine to roll along and the two offended contestants hit the talk show circuit and yes a scant few viewers have said they won't watch the show. I'm writing this article the Monday before the 2007 Memphis American Idol auditions and I think I can safely predict that the ratings on tonight's show will be huge. Fox hasn't commented on this so far, but I am pretty sure their response would be something along the line of, "Thanks for the free advertising and thanks in advance for sending our Memphis ratings through the roof!" It wouldn't surprise me if you didn't see one of the judges cut into another few contestants before it is all over with to round up a few hundred thousand more viewers. At the end of the day, Rupert Murdoch is laughing all the way to the bank.

At the end of the day, American Idol will keep going strong - mean comments or not - the comments might even get worse. Face it people love American Idol and all the spin offs. I even have a song posted on one of the licensed sites - American Idol Underground - feel free to check it out here. Just remember to be nice!!! The point being is that American Idol lets us experience something that wasn't possible just a short time ago. Through American Idol some people will have their hopes and dreams made reality, some people will try only to find out their best isn't good enough, some will be absolutely convinced they have been cheated and others will have their feelings hurt. All the while millions of viewers will be glued to their televisions waiting for another star to be born or another star to burn up as it crashes back to ground.