Tag Archives: american idol

American Idol 2012 is Jessica Sanchez or Phillip Phillips ?

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Like much of the West Coast I’m waiting for tonight’s results on American Idol, but most of America ALREADY KNOWS the winner!    I’m not sure who will win – the incredible Jessica Sanchez with unbelievable vocal talent or the cute and clever Phillip Phillips who seems to be getting by more on his looks than his musicality, though you would not know this from some of the odd comments last night after he performed a song written by others for the finale – unfortunately a “better song” than the one Jessica Sanchez sang.

I’m a little frustrated because I’d like to see musical brilliancy triumph here, and Sanchez is one of the best singers to ever come out of this show.   Philip, on the other hand, is more of a hearthrob for the shows legions of young female fans.    He’s good, but hes not THAT good!

James Durbin leaves American Idol

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James Durbin was voted off American Idol tonight in what most people would say was a big upset.     Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, and Haley Reinhart are the three remaining finalists.

This makes my American Idol Contestants prediction of a Durbin win … WRONG … but I’m OK with that because I’m now rooting for Lauren, who has the country charm that I hope takes her into the final.   Scotty’s the big surprise for me even though he’s a great singer – I just didn’t think his sort of “overaged kid” style would do so well but he’d obviously a big hit with the American Idol voting demographic – teen girls.

So we’re almost down to the final, and therefore…

THIS IS AMERICAN IDOL!

American Idol Contestants Part II

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Well, I was pretty close with my estimate of which American Idol Contestants would make it until tonight.    We’ve got Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, and Scotty McCreery where I predicted the first three plus Casey would still be alive in the American Idol Competition.  Jacob Lusk was last weeks victim in the cruel and suspenseful “results” show where contestants are slowly made to squirm while they learn their individual fate as continuing in pursuit of becoming the next American Idol, an honor so great it often almost immediately confers a lifetime of superstardom on the winners – people like Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and … umm… Taylor Hicks!   (What, who dat?)

My winner prediction is still the same.   I think James Durbin will take it unless he really falls apart in the last few weeks.    Scotty, Haley, and Lauren all had exceptional performances last week so it’s certainly possible we’ll see what I would call an upset and see somebody other than James win the whole show.

THIS … is AMERICAN IDOL!

Is American Idol Rigged?

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I am a big fan of the American experience and the American experiment [excluding the many mistakes we’ve made and continue to make of course]  and American Idol in particular, and I do not believe that Idol is rigged.    I have read (I think it was in Newsweek during the Ruben Studdard / Clay Aiken controversies) that producers do not treat all contestants equally however, so if by “rigged” one means to ask “is it unfair” I think the answer is almost certainly yes, but not unfair enough to make a huge difference in the results, which are overwhelmingly a function of millions of votes by people all over the country.

Especially with the recent early departure of favorite American Idol Contestant Pia Toscano, some have suggested as they always do that the voting is not representative but I think it’s brilliantly representative in the sense that the show manages to build popularity and a fan base for even those that get  eliminated, many of whom wind up with contracts from the American Idol producers.

Many Idols – even losers – go on to become huge stars like Daughtry, Clay Aiken, and Jennifer Hudson.   American Idol is the most fertile ground for stardom in decades – perhaps in the history of entertainment – and they aren’t going to mess that up by rigging the results.

Pia Toscano Leaves American Idol !

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Pia Toscano was kicked off of American Idol tonight after the American viewing public displayed their musical ignorance yet again.   Now, I’m not saying that American Idol is art in high form, rather American Idol is art in …. popular form.   So I suppose it’s OK that Pia was a victim of what must have been her talent and good lucks, because she was one of the favorites for those of us who … know music… : )

OK, sure this is *partly* an SEO post hoping to see how JoeDuck can rank for searches for Pia Toscano and American Idol searches, but it’s also a reflection of my sadness at Pia’s departure from the show.    I’m a fan of the show and most of the family has been watching it for many years.   Pia’s departure is … a tragedy!

My working hypothesis is that there’s a bias in favor of the most appealing personalities and Pia did not come across as well as most of the others, so maybe that’s the reason Pia is no longer on American Idol.     Stay tuned for more reports…

Pia Toscano

Pia Toscano off of American Idol!

Madonna Rocks the Music

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Madonna’s $120,000,000 deal ( Wall Street Journal story) with Live Nation signals a powerful shift in the music industry that hopefully will lead to a cutting out of the middlemen in favor of the best for the artists and for the music consumer.  I don’t follow this industry all that closely but my take on the coming trend is different than most of what I’ve been reading.  It seems to me that over the coming decades we will see music thankfully shifting to a less sensational and more “niche genre” focus.   We’ll see more emphasis on quality music, and perhaps on quality concerts because the human to human aspect of music will not go away anytime soon, and may even be enhanced as artists move to online communities where they can interact with thousands effectively and somewhat intimately.    We’ll see more independent artists who can make an “OK” living thanks to an online global fan base, and this will thankfully come at the expense of the Britney Spears and Madonnas who have been rather spectacular beneficiaries of the giant music marketing empires that made all stars what they are today.  

The idea that individuals are the key component in these things is absurd.  They matter in the big profit and entertainment equations but the key component is generally the huge support system that starts as a small gathering behind promising talent and then blossoms to a cast of hundreds as the promoters step in to “discover” the new talent. 

American Idol’s brilliant model created a huge fan base for the participants as the weeks went on, and many of the top 10 American Idol singers are now doing quite well as actors or singers.   This “social networking” approach will become increasingly important in a music world ruled by the fans and not the big players.