American Idol: The Song Remains the Same

Pop Music. Talk about it. Everybody does. We can’t help it. It’s as old as music itself. By definition, it’s popular music. And as long as you have two songs, one will be more popular than the other. The people delivering that music are pop stars.

The face of the pop star as has changed dramatically in the past thousands of years. From the local chanteuse to the juke joint piano player, absolutely anyone, at any given time, could be a pop star. Then came the recording – the LP. Then came the inevitable marriage of the LP and the radio, and the regional pop star was forever doomed to take a back seat.

Then things began to get hazy. When the need to put a face to the voice became crucial, the modern day pop star was born. Granted, the early pop stars of the first half of the 20th century weren’t always easy on the eyes, but it was about the music. Then came the ‘50s and girls started screaming. While the music was important, the person delivering the music and the inherent visuals came very close second. Still, anyone, at any time could be a pop star. This, my friends, is the point of conception of American Idol.

Talent shows looking for the next great superstar is not a new thing at all. There has always been a thirst to quench for fresh new faces. Motown made its name with its never-ending stable of new and excited faces who were all too eager to show you what they could do. In the ‘80s it was Star Search, the Ed McMahon version, that enjoyed a very long run, bringing us new talent to watch, judge, and ultimately, decide if they were truly stars. Sometimes, they were.

The end of Star Search came when it started messing with its own rules, exceeding its reach, and in the end, bearing little resemblance to the show that first aired. Be that as it may, it does have a impressive list of alumni. Of course, it took some time for some names on that list to fully find themselves, which is one of things that makes American Idol special. American Idol has been successful from the start – almost in spite of itself.

What started as an ambitious, but innocuous, campaign to find “the next superstar” has become a national phenomenon. Season one featured some audaciously awful auditions, and some startlingly good ones. It was undeniably fascinating. Pair that with some compelling judges – savvy music industry veteran Randy Jackson with his youth-friendly lingo; platinum recording artist and choreographer Paula Abdul; and the possibly evil, undeniably blunt, ultimately entertaining record label executive Simon Cowell -- and it was appointment television at its most basic.

In reality, precious little has changed from the first season to the current one. The same judges and tenants remain. What is different is the level of talent, and the level of awareness. In season one, those poor kids were thrust into a national spotlight that far exceeded any of their expectations. Some of them cracked under that pressure. The knock on season one was that it was a season of beautiful people with marginal talent. Kelly Clarkson smoked the competition by the second week of the Top Ten, never appearing in the dreaded bottom three even once.

American Idol owes a tremendous amount of gratitude to Clarkson, as her performances quickly became the ones to watch. Her deft ability to easily glide through genre after genre set the bar for future Idols to match. Fox did its best to sell the drama to the end, all while knowing Nikki McKibbin’s continued presence threatened the viability of the show as a whole. If anyone doubted the voting, even though Idol never gives the full results, they can drop those doubts at the feet of McKibbin. She was outclassed, and she knew it. The producers could have announced she was the lowest vote-getter, she would have been gone, and no one would have been the wiser. Quite the opposite -- there have been some unproven suspicions that autodialer programs were used to vote for McKibbin to keep her on the show as something of a prank. Since Idol could not prove this (or didn’t know they could), McKibbin remained, unchallenged. Of course, not everything was quite so peaches and cream. A lot of criticism was leveled at American Idol, and Simon Cowell specifically, for refusal to advance overweight contestants. Cowell staunchly defended his position, but quietly rested it by season two.

Like any successful reality show, season two became the litmus test. The auditioners were even more talented, and even more aware of the stakes. Overweight contestants like Ruben Studdard, Frenchie Davis, and Kimberley Locke were not immediately shown the door, and all of them proved to be among the most talented. But a new set of problems arose. The law. An embarrassing number of contestants had unsuccessful scrapes with the law. Corey Clark was facing assault charges, a fact that he hid, and the background checks failed to discover. In what was the most humiliating point in American Idol’s history, Clark, who was already in the Top 12, was eliminated from competition. Trenyce was upfront about her shoplifting charge and was allowed to continue. Jaered Andrews was eliminated for his own assault charges, but since he was not featured in the earlier stages of the broadcast, his absence wasn’t even noticeable.

Frenchie Davis broke no laws, but her topless appearance on a website chafed against the family entertainment image of the show. She was also eliminated, and the fairness of that decision is still a hotly debated one.

Despite all that, American Idol’s second season ratings completely eclipsed the first. While Clarkson’s win was an easy one to predict in season one, season two featured a number of strong contestants. The charm and rich vocals of Ruben Studdard vs. the powerful vocals in the unlikely visage of Clay Aiken vs. the well-schooled measured vocal perfection of Kimberley Locke. They rightly were the final three and Kimberley’s third-place finish before her dismissal was within a couple of percentage points. The ultimate win by Ruben Studdard was by less than a single percentage point!

As a result, American Idol in essence had two winners for season two. Studdard and Aiken’s fan bases were so diametrically different, Clive Davis, President of RCA, saw fit to offer both of them recording contracts. Both have been massively successful, just like Clarkson before them.

Which means the stakes are even higher in season three. Thus far, the season three Top 12 have proven to be the most diverse and most entertaining yet. Among them are a bona fide crooner, a Motown throwback, a brainy heartthrob, a former football player, a sassy Southern diva, a gospel-inspired powerhouse, a pink-haired spark plug, and not one, but two young Hawaiian chanteuses.

Fox had no idea what it had in store when American Idol started as a summer-series in 2002. It quickly went on to be a ratings behemoth that had the other networks stacking their best programs against it, only to withdraw within weeks. American Idol, still the chagrin of many, has become more than a television program, it is an event. And, despite the naysayers, it has become a launch pad for new superstars. Its contestants have reached levels of success and public acceptance greater than any talent show-style program before it. And it’s not even done.

The music industry is begrudgingly acknowledging American Idol’s power. You will likely hear Ruben or Clay on your radio. Kelly Clarkson and Ruben Studdard are Grammy nominees. American Idol’s place in the annals of pop culture history is utterly secure. People will be talking about American Idol and its impact deep into the century.

American Idol didn’t just change the music for a few artists and the ratings for Fox – it changed the television landscape by bringing back talent shows – and not just for singing. Since American Idol proved that it could be done, other shows have jumped on the bandwagon. We’ve had the good, such as America’s Next Top Model; the bad, such as All American Girl; and the ugly, such as Are You Hot?. Mixed in there we’ve also seen Nashville Star, Fame, ESPN Dream Job, America’s Most Talented Kid, America’s Most Talented Senior, American Juniors, Last Comic Standing, and even a return of Star Search. Most of these series probably never would have been born had it not been for American Idol.

If you’re keeping score, the pros of Idol far outweigh the cons. Any successful show finds itself with a story within a story. The great shows become phenomena. They become apart of the American vernacular. People who have never seen the show know what it is and, likely, what’s happening. Regular viewers take a certain ownership of the show and the stars it creates. It’s a secret club that anyone can join. American Idol is a runaway train showing no signs of slowing down. This makes American Idol’s induction to the Reality TV Hall of Fame mildly premature, but absolutely and completely deserving.

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for 16 years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He also has a curious love for pro-wrestling! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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