American Idol and the Cool Quotient

You can read the dominance of the cult of American Idol and the demise of the American music business in the cool quotient of performers at the results finale at the Nokia theater last night. Once upon a time, ZZ Top would've been too cool to come on this show. Graham Nash wouldn't have been caught dead singing "Teach Your Children" on a cheesy talent competition. George Michael... well, ok, George Michael would have warmed up the audience, that's probably true. But in general, the range and reach of this show is such - 36 million viewers in the second hour - that no one in the Desperate Times business known as the music industry can afford to ignore this space. Those with records to promote and, though ever less likely, sell - Donna Summer, Bryan Adams, OneRepublic, Seal - dominated the stage. It was, by any measure, a star-studded line-up, including an appearance by Mike Meyers in swami regalia and doing a lame bit with the Davids. Guess who has a movie coming out.

I was there, third row, close enough to see 'em sweat, and let me tell you - this was an impressive feat. Live, all those songs, all those artists, they had it nailed. But even as the coolest artists are vying to be on a singing contest, Idol is starting to show its age. Competitively speaking, this was among the most boring seasons yet. How worked up could you get over David Archuleta versus David Cook? "Nice guys," as Simon Cowell called them last night. Translation: deadly boring television. Tuesday's singing finale was a disaster on that score. (Memo to Fox: Please shoot whoever insisted on flogging a boxing metaphor for the full hour.) And while the ratings for this week's show were high, the overall ratings for the season are something for Fox to worry about. By midseason they'd fallen to their lowest point in the past few years, about 22 million. For most shows, that would still be a whopping number, but numbers can be deceiving. If Fox is smart, it will not make the same mistake ABC did eight years ago, when "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire," wallowed in juggernaut ratings while the network refused to notice the audience's eyes glazing over. The network has been digging its way out of that sinkhole ever since. As for the singers, well, the cool guy won. Rock on, David Cook. But I'll declare American Idol at the apogee of cool only when they do this: Bring on the Dylan.

Read more on www.waxword.net

Follow Sharon Waxman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sharonwaxman

Comments

[spiderbucket]

Cool ? Please.

American Idol is music for people who don't like music.

And it's rigged. I won't name names but I still know people in the industry and this show is scripted 100% just like ALL 'reality shows' are.

Anyway, if you like AI, you are musically retarded.

[LightUpAmerica]

I thought the season itself was about as good as others, tho I've only seen a few. BUT what is find really distasteful is the time spent making fun of the more eccentric performers, especially those who don't know they're terrible. And to parade them through the finale which was otherwise a high time was a real disappointment for me. Also WAY too many commercials, natch. My last big gripe is-why why why with the #1 show do they have to bring these painfully uncool ancient artists out to coach the young up and coming? Neil Diamond? The Bee Gees? (last year) Dolly Parton? These people were okay in their time but I'm just embarrassed that these young musicians have to be subjected to old fogeys. The producers need to pick mentors that will actually help them, not hinder.

[prettdee]

Perhaps it's time to do a bit of a change up....how about having two female finalists and two male ones. Then the female finalist can go up against the male finalist. It was a bit boring just having 2 guys, But I am damn happy that Cook won!!! I was also disappointed that his Phantom of the Opera song was dismissed by the judges ...he did a great job with that . Meanwhile Archuleta need not worry because the 'tweens will buy anything that he puts out.

[kellygrrrl]

I thought the talent was pretty impressive this year, and the final result was GREAT!!!!

it actually restored my faith in the youth of America and their "taste" in music

[IntrepidReader]

I do agree that this was not a great season for Idol, I think the producers went for competence over flair as they chose contestants, resulting in a Toyota Corolla vs Honda Accord sort of finale that would produce a reliable winner but not a head-turning one. Even so, all the stories about declining ratings share a common trait of not mentioning that overall viewing of network television has dropped more than Idol's ratings have. Idol still has numbers that other shows only dream of, but just as no broadcast shows could match the ratings I Love Lucy or Rhoda's wedding garnered once cable took a slice of the viewing pie, it's evident that future network ratings aren't going to match the ones of the early 2000's for any shows.

In the interest of fairness, I want to point out that David Cook never billed himself as a rocker. Randy Jackson stuck that label on him but Cook himself has said he comes from a varied music background, including years of musical theatre. It's true that he can pound out a gravel-voiced rendition of Sharp Dressed Man but he can also hit the Broadway glory notes in a song from Phantom of the Opera just as easily. It rather baffles me that despite his being like a mix of Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry (which is a formidable combination), for me he just doesn't have the extra spark those two have.

[Buffy57]

Yup, bring on the Dylan indeed. They just might after this year's result.

[Manx]

I agree with you about the boxing metaphor on Tuesday's show. I groaned at first sight of it. Talk about corny!