The Idol Shows: Waste of Time?

[PWNED]

I myself find that The Idol Shows/ Popstars/ the X Factor are all wastes of Television time because they mosly contain Teenagers and young adults that cannot perform to save their lives yet the public love them, What is up with that? I mean for example, Anthony Callea who came second in the 2004 Aussie Idol yet he doesn't have that muc htalent and his music just isn't the type that would appeal to music listeners these days. Like his current song, no #1 on the charts and doing nearly twice as well as Numb/Encore which is at no #2 and his song isn't even that good ( I can't believe that he was in the final, His current song sucks because it is a mix between pop and opera (In one bit of it he sings like he is in an opera, In Italian). Can someone explain to me how sellouts like these do so well on the charts and in sales even though their songs range from :confused: to merely eh. What is you opinion?

[Semjaza]

People apparently like it. I personally find the US arm of the show to be ridiculous and hokey at some points, but at the same time it is rather interesting in other ways.

The music industry knows what the highest volume of people buy, and for the most part, it's non-threatening pop music. While I don't particularly want to listen to that sort of music, many people obviously do; which is why so many similar artists survive in different genres, particularly what can be classified within the general container term of "pop". Different isn't always good, at least for public perception. I wouldn't rightfully say they have any less "taste" than I do, as that's completely subjective. I know I get weird looks and comments for listening to Xiu Xiu or Deerhoof for that very reason... it applies to anything.

My only real problem with the show is that it makes stars out of people by forcing them to be what amounts to karaoke singers. I think a show like this would be far more entertaining and interesting if these people actually performed their own material... Even after the winner puts out an album, it's still mostly written by someone else (if not entirely). It admittedly bothers me.

Perhaps there are already shows that do that, I don't know.

[James]

[color=#811C3A]I don't know why on earth you'd classify these people as "sellouts".

Think about it. They are just average people who have gone in and auditioned to sing. They are singers/performers, rather than being instrumentalists or writers. The entire competition is about how well you can sing.

So...if someone does well in that type of competition and they sing a song that someone else wrote, good for them. I mean, I'm not going to say that they are sellouts or something -- having a voice that people like and making money from your voice is equivalent to selling out? I don't get that.

I'm not really a fan of these shows and I often find the music that the winner releases to be pretty awful (I absolutely loathed all of Guy's singles, for example). But that's not the point. He's singing, doing what he wants and making a living from it. Good for him.[/color]

[The Vampire: Ed]

[COLOR=Red][FONT=Comic Sans MS]American Idol isn't my sort of thing, nor is the music they usually sing. So I'm not a fan of the shows, however I usually watch the first few batches of "episodes" for the tryouts because they're hilarious. There are always tons of people who stink at singing but they, for some reason, can't tell that themselves. I maybe sounding like an a-hole, but the only reason I ever watch is to see Simon insult people. That's it.

Besides, the show is a joke anyway. You just about always know who's going to win because of the way they talk about people on the show all the time, and besides that I think, for the most part, the shows are fixed. Because some of the winners were obviously worse than some of the losers.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Panda]

American Idol is not up my alley. I never watch the show. My take on the entire Idol/ game show fandom is that people enjoy seeing someone like them, a regular person with a dream, succeed. It gives people hope that one day they could be that "regular joe" who makes their dreams a reality.

The albums sell because of simple marketing techniques. A song doesn't have to be an amazing musical masterpiece. All it needs to be successful is to speak to the majority and repetition. Non-threatening pop songs played over and over on the radio as well as on the television, like a commercial, convinces people that is what they want. For example the Friends theme song "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts. Week after week the song played on television before a popular show and played constantly on the radio. Repetition= commercial success. This same formula is what makes Idol's singers so popular.

Rooting for your favorite Idol is like cheering for your favorite sports team. If they win you win. People like feeling like winners even if it is by proxy.