I watch American Idol. Mostly, I hate it, I think to the dismay of my friends and family. I watch it because I never get to see my wife and we can just sit and watch it together, even though we are usually working. While I watch the show, I definitely do so through veiled glasses. I watch for the marketing, the promotion and the fluff.
The finale this year (2009) was unbelievable in terms of scope. There were huge acts and it obviously was a massively expensive undertaking. The Black Eyed Peas, Kiss and countless others. There was glitz. There was style. There was so much happening that it made my head hurt.
With all of the glam, was it even worth it? Was it memorable aside from a judge flashing her undies, a bikini-clad singer, a staged crying event that went further than they even wanted and many awkward performances by the past contestants? Was there real substance to it? Now, people like different music and that is not what I mean to debate in this article. I personally liked some of the singers. I felt they could be successful and provide the world with substantive and exciting music in the future.
The reason that I do not enjoy this type of show is that, in my opinion, it is marketing for marketing’s sake. It is sort of how Paris Hilton is famous for being famous. Rather then showing us a particular fad on any particular episode, the show is inundating us with multiple fads all at once. Some of them stick, some of them fall off. But the sheer magnitude of the fad fodder will be profitable for them. The general public is easily swayed by massive glitz. The money it takes to provide said glitz is also massive. This glitz begets more glitz, which begets even more glitz. All of this glitz turns into money by the original “glitzers” because products are purchased - iTunes downloads, CDs, posters, cars, soft-drinks, to name a few.
American Idol is a business venture. Their goal is to make money - a lot of money. Now, there is nothing wrong with this. If they can make money by telling us what to buy, and we do it, then it’s our fault, not theirs.
