Well, it gets talked about sometimes, but, surprisingly, there’s really not all that much attention paid to the logistics of the American Idol program vis a vis authenticity.

And, I think I know why. Many people get so caught up in whether the voting is fixed or not that they overlook consideration of some more fundamental production aspects… but, the production aspects are so interesting!

But, just approaching this from a basic, common sense perspective, let’s think a bit about the fundamental production aspects of the American Idol audition process.

To begin, the show loves the shots of the huge crowds that turn out for the auditions. And, so be it…. the program is wildly (almost disturbingly) popular. Now, don’t get me wrong: we’re all big fans over here, but, really… when there’s nearly forty million people watching one single program at the same time, it, well… it should make one wonder.

Okay, as far as the speculation that the voting is fixed. I don’t believe that for a moment. Now, is American Idol fixed? Yes, it certainly is…

But, it’s not necessary for Idol to rig telephone voting. They have the power of the camera and the tape. All they have to do (and, what they indeed do) is both emphasize and edit footage appealingly for the contestants whom they want to advance: make them likable, highlight their sad back story, show them in the most sympathetic light, make them stars. And, this is indeed what we see happen.

And, thus far, this year, it seems, among others, they like Melissa Doolittle (audition video). I am willing to bet that her life story gets played up further.

Now, over at Fox News is a pretty darn interesting story concerning the American Idol audition proceedings. Here, an unsuccessful American Idol hopeful tells his tale about the real process that’s not seen:

At the judging table in front of us sat two 20-something producers. One was a young woman with sunglasses so large, she could have been napping behind them. The other was a young man with his head propped up in his hands. He said nothing and looked bored.

Suddenly Simon seemed not so rude after all.

Each of us would be given roughly 15 seconds of our chosen song to perform. No questions, no names.

Two of the singers next to me were great, even passionate. Another one, not so much.

Then I stepped forward and sang, belting out the tune with all I had. It’s Aretha, after all.

I was louder than the rest, working my vibrato, stretching my arms out. The bored guy perked up a little, but still said nothing. This was the moment I had waited six hours for.

After less than 20 seconds, it was over.

Afterward, the young woman with the sunglasses turned to all of us, thanked us for auditioning, and said we would not be needed for the show. There was no banter between judges. No comments to us about our performances — snarky or otherwise. Not even a little canned applause.

Instead, we were instructed to go, our wristbands were cut, and we walked out of the stadium.

Now, this is fascinating stuff to me, because, although we all know, certainly, that Randy, Simon, and Paula can’t personally see every individual who wants to try out, somehow, a truly misleading illusion is created, because, somehow, at least I, and, I’m sure others, sort of forget about just how contrived this whole thing is…

Obviously, the individual screeners whom that story references are purposely sending through the lousiest contestants along with the very best. And, they’re sending some truly lousy ones through so we at home can get our rocks off to just how lousy they are.

And, I find the awful ones amusing. Don’t you? And, what does that really say about me that I get a laugh out of these terrible performers who are humiliating themselves. And, then when Simon cuts them down and insults them, people get offended and say American Idol is rude and nasty.

Well, of course American Idol is rude and nasty and fixed and contrived. That’s what makes it so damn entertaining. If it weren’t, we’d be bored and flip the channel. So, let’s just keep it real friends.

Rock,
Skippy
original post
Important ideas, concepts, and terms in this post:American Idol, fixed, rigged, fake, authentic, authenticity, staged, bogus, voting, contestants, auditions, Simon, Paula, Randy, awful contestants, sing, singing competition, voting, production aspects, celebrity, try outs

Read More Articles