Reply With QuoteMy wife wanted to watch it so I watched it, too. I cannot explain it either, but I continue to tune in. The judges are much more entertaining than the contestants or those two hideous hosts.
I don't really enjoy pop music but there's just something about this new Fox show that has me tuning in every week. Maybe its the cruelty of the judges, or seeing people go from shaky auditions to polished performances. I don't really know, but I like it. Has anyone else watched this show?
My wife wanted to watch it so I watched it, too. I cannot explain it either, but I continue to tune in. The judges are much more entertaining than the contestants or those two hideous hosts.
Originally Posted by Tyjenks
Maybe it is the anticipation of a violent fist-fight taking place on the show or something.. my only complaint: I was really upset that that kid that sounded like Stevie Wonder didn't make it through.
Ehhhh. When it is left up to the viewing public to vote, there is no way to guess who is going to make it.
Remember Jesse Camp, the MTV VJ contest winner? Oh yeah.
I didn't even want to start watching it.
This whole public humiliation TV thing really doesn't interest me. It's like when Jay Leno flashes a camera in someone's face and then demands to know who the 3rd president was. At that point, most of the people couldn't tell you their phone number, watching the people humiliate themselves is not really entertaining for me. Why not just grab one of the retards on death row, give him a movie script and then film 30 hours of america's favorite bloopers?
Reality/invasion/humiliation TV has for the first time, made me not like some TV. How could the networks betray me?!?
Chet
Well certainly some of these people are humiliating themselves (or being humiliated by the judges) but many of them are pretty talented. I'm not into these shows where they ask people to eat raw bull scrotum or lock themselves in a coffin full of rats either, but I do think that this particular show is entertaining (for the time being).
I watch it because the British judge, Simon, is so brutally honest in his assessments. Everyone else on that show always tries to sugarcoat their evaluations and be all warm and fuzzy, but the point is to find the best of the best of the contestants, not nurse their egos.
Contestants know they're going to be up against tough competition and open criticism when they perform, yet they too often seem surprised and/or indignant at the ruthless criticism with which Simon evaluates their performances.
Maybe that makes me a little bit of a bastard, but I watch the show because I enjoy watching Simon rip into people when they perform poorly. Then again, I also like to see people on that show give genuinely good performances as well, it just doesn't happen as often as the other.
- Balut
Same here. That cheesy damn Paula Abdul, although still smokin' hot, has not disliked a contestant yet.
The worst was one of those idiot hosts questioning Simon's harshness:
Idiot host #2 "That's not right, what you said to her"
Simon:" Well, you do not know much about judging talent then"
#2: "Maybe I don't, but I know I don'y like to see good kids cry"
patient viewer: "Uggghhh!! Shut the FUCK up"
I seriously do not see the point of the two moron hosts.
I agree with you about Simon. If I was a judge in this competition i'd be much more ruthless than he is (let's face it quite a few of these people just plain suck - I think he's also sugar coating his responses at some level). What's amusing to me is that the "losers" are bad mouthing the guy afterwards thinking that they have nothing to lose. What they don't realize is that 1) if they don't make it through he'll be one of the guys picking a "wild card" and in the back of his mind he'll remember their comments 2) the contract that they are all vying for involves him (isn't his name on the credits as the creator?). It's like flipping some guy off in traffic on your way to a job interview and then finding out later that he's the guy that's going to be giving you the interview.. doh!
Maybe in a perfect world, Simon would be like a Bond villain, sitting in an executive leather chair, stroking a pet cat, and when some no-talent hack tries to warble some awful karaoke-impression song, he can simply push a button on the armrest and the floor opens up, dumping said warbler into either a fiery pit or an aquarium populated by sharks with laser beams on their heads.
In a perfect world.
- Balut
I live in the UK and American Idol is based on the original Pop Idol we saw last year. "Nasty Simon" Cowell is one of the judges in that, and even has a large financial stake in the production company. He will also get to sign the winner (and the runner up in the UKs case). So, he has a vested interest in sorting the wheat from the chaff.
That is what I assumed from his seriousness and what I see as integrity in telling the plain truth about the contestants. He definitely makes the show and if he had let some other dopey American record exec. take his place for this American version, I do not think anyone would still be watching.
Some of his reactions, I am sure, are exaggerated for ratings sake, but I love them and they are generally the truth anyway.
Sounds like the Gong Show... or Showtime at the Apollo or ... that one show with Ed McMahon and you become a star? is it like that? I liked the Gong Show... it was weird.
etc
Star Search :)
It's not quite as cheesy (or maybe it is...) as Star Search but it follows a similar formula. The Gong Show was cool because it was so bizarre and the host was often tanked (it sure seemed like he was, at least)
American Idol isn't as bad as that other Fox show, something like "Making the Band". They started with 100 guys and picked 5 of them to be this new boy band, ala N'Sync. Show did nothing but piss me off.
I love music. I love watching Behind the Music and Driven and watching how these bands clawed their way to the top. Starting as garage bands, playing dives, replacing members as others get frustrated. Essentially paying their dues and hoping people like their music. That's what I like to see, and that's what I think music should be.
Bands like N'Sync, Spice Girls, etc.. The individuals have talent, I can't dispute that. But the music is gone. These people answer ads in the classifieds put in by Disney. They're picked, not based on their singing talent, but because they can follow coreography and fit the parts that have yet to be flled. "Oh, he'll make a good bad boy. Someone put a backwards hat on him!". It's just the industry telling the public what kind of music they should like, and the kids go right along with it. The Disney Channel plasters their faces between episodes of Rescue Rangers to brainwash the audience into demanding that their parents buy the CD.
I digress. My point is, it's bad enough that I know this is what the record industry has become. But to see it televised...to see the process, the discussions on why they picked one guy over another because, even though he couldn't sing as well, his hair will be liked better by 12 year olds. It's like pulling aside the curtain and seeing the wizard cranking the knobs and pushing the buttons.
And it's just as bad with American Idol. One of the guys who has made it to the finals was told that "You sound great, but you shouldn't go on to the next round. Look at your shirt, it's horrible". His SHIRT! Who cares if he was the most talented out of the 10 people in that group, he shouldn't go on because he won't look as good on a poster.
Sad thing is, I know that whoever wins will end up rich and famous. People will buy the albums, even after seeing how artificial music has become. None of the songs are written by the artist, yet all are heartfelt pleas to exgirlfriends, odes to dead pets, or promises to always love the little girl listening to the music. And people will eat it up, because they are told to. The show, while getting good ratings, is the best album commercial ever divised, because people don't care that it's all fake, they just buy what they're told.
Whew, turned into a full fledged rant.
(and when I say "people", I don't mean me and you. We're not the target audience. 11 - 15 year olds are where the real money is in CDs these days)
Posting Permissions