American Idol

It is difficult to imagine a show that would rival the variety shows of old when I was a young lad. Everyone in the household would be engaged in watching the one show, and from the eyes of a child it seemed as though this was the only show to watch. But viewing the American Idol finale has to be the closest we can come in these modern days.

What a show! How many stars (whether ancient or not) can you fit on to one show. How do you decide how many to include? Queen, Queen Latifah, David Coook, Keith Urban, Black Eyed Peas, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie, Carlos Santana, Kiss, Rod Stewart...
Is this overload or what?

It's just one big advertisement. It seems that American Idol has the perfect captive audience for all of these artists to advertise their wares - a captive huge audience. Almost 100 million votes were cast on the finale to bring the season votes cast to approximately 624 million votes. How much does that add up to for AT&T in texts alone? As Ryan said "Your voices across the country that got us here," I couldn't help thinking that if the texting was a lot less Ryan might be out of a job.

The production used every aesthetic element known to humanity in an attempt to heighten the experience and keep the huge audience tuned in. Again it was almost overload. From the use of desaturation in the intro. to every camera angle imaginable to weird/creative lighting and, of course, the inferior audio on Adam and Kris at the start, it was too much. Is it necessary to present two people, Danny Oakey and Lionel Richie, dressed in black on a big stage and use every angle (and every aesthetic tool) in an attempt to energize the production. Could we not just see them and hear them singing the song.

The production felt like it was over produced. Just too much. I needed to take a breath and look away from time to time.

The Golden Idol Awards are either a joke or a disgusting abuse of some normal people. I'm not too sure which. Obviously some of the individuals are aware of the joke but I wonder if some are taken advantage of. And then the introduction of Catriona Darrell, a.k.a. Bikini Girl...

Bringing the show to the lowest common denominator seems to be comfortable for the producers. The cut-aways to Simon and Randy "gasping" were adolescent and pointless. All the camera angles were directed to objectification of the female. In 2009, chauvinism once again wins out by instigating a "bikini war." Kara Dioguardi showing her "bikini." Wow, what a way to be a "strong woman," a spokesperson for females. Are we to accept that it was for charity and therefore the chauvinistic undertones are acceptable? Do we overlook the ridiculousness of the event because she has a body that is accepted as the cultural ideal and therefore it was o.k? Do we admire this successful woman for singing on stage and then "ripping" her dress off? Is this the role model we hope for on a prime time show aimed at a young audience? Is this what we want our adolescent women to be looking up to?

I say no.

So much potential. So many opportunities squandered. When will we/they start using TV for the good of society. Here is (according to many) the democratization of the media. A show where unknowns become known through the votes of the proletariat. A place where the proletariat get heard.

A place where the producers decided to have a bikini war in front of 30+ million people. What a waste.

Is American Idol on the way out?

I have been a viewer of American Idol pretty much all along. My justification is that I need to be aware of the popular shows so that I can be an effective teacher and critic and analyst. I can't watch everything but American Idol is on at a convenient time and my family enjoys it too. I might even argue that it is fairly good wholesome family viewing but then I'd be ignoring the overemphasis on appearances and Ryan's comments about the ladies' legs and Simon and Randy's request to a female singer to "dirty up her image." If it wasn't for that and the emphasis on fame and money as the ultimate goal of any young person I could say that American Idol is good wholesome television viewing.

But it is what is popular on TV. I must check out the ratings for this season compared to other seasons because I have a suspicion that it is on the way out. The whole show seems more disjointed than before. The fourth judge seems to not fit in to the format and Ryan seems very flimsy. The recent efforts at interviewing in the Green Room and Ryan's appearance of "live" television as he refers to it himself is bordering on amateurish. I almost feel while watching that they just don't care any more. Maybe they think they are indispensable and will never be cancelled or maybe they are just bored and want to get away from it, but there is something lacking in this season of American Idol.

Seacrest, telling us to watch the commercials to see a hidden audition in the commercials is pathetic. An American Idol retrospective was rerun to the sound track of Wonderful World. Self congratulation once is bad enough but doing it again to the aesthetic of slow motion is pathetic. I think they probably couldn't find enough highlights from all the seasons to play them at regular speed so playing them in slow motion filled out the duration of the song. Frankly, the best part of the retrospective was the song.

Is American Idol on the way out? One of the most successful shows for a long time in the ratings may be going away. It was not a new idea when Simon "brought" it over to the U.S. Talent shows were the original staple of broadcasting long before Simon was around. They went away and now they're back again, but for how long? The cycle continues.