"Idol" Dropping the Songwriting Contest: Why It's Good for Aspiring Songwriters

The first article I wrote here for Associated Content in May of 2007 was a critique of American Idol's first songwriting contest and my impressions of the winner at the time. I refrained from writing much about the second annual contest, mainly because my first analysis explained everything away why they shouldn't be doing it and why amateur songwriters should stay away as I ultimately did. It's too bad, really, because AI initially played it up as the best opportunity in America for an aspiring songwriter to get her or his song noticed by professionals and get exposure not only on the show, but also the runners-up getting noticed on the Idol website.

Even though Idol still hasn't admitted it, the first year's winner had to be covered up as an already successful songwriter. It was no different last year either.

You probably remember the first year's winner who wrote the sappy ballad "This is My Now" sung earnestly by 2007 winner Jordin Sparks and begrudgingly by runner-up Blake Lewis. While the sentiment of the song shouldn't be mocked, I saw plenty of message boards online that had people replacing the last word with 'Cow' or 'Meow.' I also raise my hand in guilt doing that to a degree. But while the song might not have been the best, that wasn't the ultimate disappointment. The problems began when Idol had the songwriter write up a bio on himself playing him up to be a struggling Christian songwriter who was just trying to support his family.

Well, two out of three were true. After some astute members of AI's message boards used Google and did a little simple online research, they found out this struggling songwriter was indeed a Christian musician with a family--yet already had a #1 Christian hit on his real resume. In other words, the mantra of this being a songwriting contest for real amateurs was false advertising.

I've said before that I can't necessarily blame Idol for wanting to go with more professional songwriters who knew what they were doing. That same procedure goes with the show itself and its singers. How many times have we seen singers there in recent years with previous record contracts, though just happened to fall through the cracks--hence ending up on the show? The division of amateur and professional is still a wide one when it comes to a sense of quality. Then again, I've seen amateur songwriters who can write incredibly artistic songs prodigiously that never get noticed. A case in point is the voting choices for best song on Idol's website that were far more creative than the ultimate winner.

Last year's winner was a little more in the middle of the road when it came to success in songwriting. Regie Hamm wrote last year's "Time of My Life" sung more effectively by David Cook, despite Hamm working previously with the previous year's songwriting winner, Scott Krippayne. For many, that put a professional shine on the resume of Hamm and destroys the idea that a first-time songwriter could have their song noticed through the contest.

All of this pointed to ultimate doom that doesn't make it surprising Idol decided to drop the songwriting contest this year if hopefully forever. It's who they're choosing to write the coronation song this time around that seems to be the show's subtle way of explaining away the controversial and contradictory nature of their mission statements...
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I was compelled to write a more positive article about Idol last fall when it was announced that Kara DioGuardi would be joining as a judge with a presumably better way to explain musical opinions to the singers. Now she's going to be tapped to take over the songwriting contest and apparently write the song the winner sings on the final night. That seems to strip away an element of the American Dream the show brought to the fore for a while. With this, they're making a statement that if you're an amateur, you don't matter any more and probably can't write a song worth its salt. Why the show doesn't just come out and say as much only hurts their reputation, no matter what Simon Cowell says or thinks. Yet it's a bigger responsibility for the professional DioGuardi to come up with something that doesn't get mired in treacle.

Considering DioGuardi has to write a song from scratch in a short period of time while also holding down the judging fort on the show, you have to wonder how good of a song her effort will be. What happens if her song is worse than the efforts we've seen in the last two years? That seems unlikely when she can probably write songs in her sleep. But all of us who do creative work likely wouldn't be afraid to admit that when we're rushed, the finished product doesn't have as professional of a shine as it would if you had extra time to perfect it. For songwriting, it's usually essential because of all its various elements.

Maybe we'll be lucky and DioGuardi will pull a song she's already been working on out of her arsenal. (No insinuation or play on words intended). Most people will say that anything would be better than the song we've heard the last two years. If it's only so-so and doesn't sell well like the last two didn't, perhaps they'll go back to the amateurs again where sometimes you can find gold if you don't have a bias toward their lack of professional status. Rather than rely on the usually horrible demos, Idol should allow amateurs to just submit a song sheet that can then be tested or tweaked by the musical staff.

As I mentioned before, some of the songs picked to be as finalists in the last couple of years weren't all that bad. I remember one from last year that ribbed the nature of reality shows. If Idol had any spine, they would have chosen that one which had a clever melody and lyric. Instead, they went with a cookie cutter song just to be safe.

Of course, if you go by another article about Idol I wrote here a couple of years ago (yes, it's less than five articles in total), the process of archetypes in the singers and even the songs isn't lost on those who pay attention to the formula. In order to be marketable, it means fitting everybody and everything neatly into a tired category that quickly kills any chance of originality forming. Idol proves that songwriting is still stuck in the same rut and leaves it open to other places to provide easier access for more original amateur songwriters to get their song noticed...

Source:

http://www.comcast.net/tv/eyeonidol/43769/songwritingcompetitionscrappedkaratakingover/