Susan Boyle proves American Idol is a waste of time

I have been asked in the past why I dislike American Idol so much. I have explained it many times, but I think the recent debut album of Britain's Got Talent winner Susan Boyle makes it crystal clear.

Susan Boyle is not a beauty queen. That reason alone is likely why she has not been scooped up by a record label long before now. Because she wouldn't look sexy in a music video, and she isn't so young she couldn't drink in America. She is an average woman, with incredible talent.



Adam Lambert, and all the other winners of American Idol are virtually all young, good looking, and marketable to teens and young adults. They can be marketed via music videos, dressed in all manner of revealing or seductive clothing, and prance around a stage in mock acts of lacivity that just draws censors and media attention.



The difference between the 2? Talent.

There is no comparison of the American Idol winners and Susan Boyle (or another surprise winner in England Paul Potts who sings opera like a knockout punch). Not even Jennifer Hudson, who is quite good, can match her talent. But then again, American Idol isn't about talent. It's about making money.

American Idol is simply a way for people to prove that they can sell according to a set of preconceived list of attributes that American record companies find important. It's a cookie cutter mold of throw away acts that make a quick buck. They are flash in the pans that are about as important to record companies as last year's ratings are to American Idol - they only count if money is coming in.

Hell, the proof of the pudding had to be William Hung. He wasn't attractive, he couldn't sing, he couldn't even shake rythmically. But he got ratings out the buttocks. So he got a record deal, and made 2 albums before he was discarded like day old fish. His shelf life was longer than his talent, but he was a useful tool to rake in cash on a gimick.

But in Britain's Got Talent we see singers that aren't confined to just pop music. They aren't molded to quick sales and gimmicks. They aren't just a means to the next buck, but are actually able to do something special. Well at least sometimes if we are being honest.

That's the point though. The concept was to find people with talent that were overlooked for whatever reason. To give them a shot at living their hearts dream. Britain's Got Talent does that, American Idol just goes for the superficial.

Why in the world would I, or anyone, want to watch a bunch of people embarrass themselves (in the early portion), and then sell their creative souls to become just another forgettable name on the one hit wonder list? Even if they survive for a while, all they are is mediocre and pop tarts that can be replaced in a year.

If I am going to commit to watching regular people trying to make it big, I'd rather go out with friends to see a live performance. I'd rather see people trying to make it with their creative souls intact and enjoying being what they dreamed instead of the prefab creation of a bunch of accountant and statisticians. I want to see talent, not marketing.

American Idol is literally the worst of programming on television. It takes your brain cells and life and gives you back reguritated mash.

And by the way, I recommend the album of Susan Boyle. I may one day recommend Adam Lambert, if he is around in a year or 2 and has more to offer than gimmicks and the insta-fame of pop television fluff.

All it takes is a phone call and a dream

Timing is everything

This truism applies to everything in life. From buying or selling stocks, hitting a baseball, crossing the street, asking someone out on a date to getting a starring role in a opera.

Yes, starring in an opera.

Adriano Graziani is the well-fated man who called into the Welsh National Opera – planning to get tickets for Friends of Welsh National Opera performance – and wound up getting an offer for the lead role. Not only did he take the offer, his performance was so strong that he will now star in that opera company’s production of La Bohème in 2009.

Now before every opera hopeful starts dialing the Metropolitian Opera, there is a bit more to the story. Graziani was a student at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, and part-time singer when not at his full-time banking job. So they had heard him sing before. In addition the lead tenor had taken ill that day, and Graziani is a tenor.

So it was a combination of a lot of work before hand, talent, and timing that all came together. But once they did it was lightning in a bottle.

It’s kind of like Paul Potts – the winner of the Britain's Got Talent television show. I featured a video of Potts before in the post The uplifting theme of 2007



Like they always say,

Success is 90% hard work and 10% luck

The uplifting theme of 2007

I wanted to try and find something that could sum up 2007 in a visual and vocal manner. Something that could express the world and its current status. So YouTube was one of my eventual stops. And there were many choices.

I threw out all the fights and stupid human tricks. Out went anything that had to do with Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, and the other dregs of humanity. Out went the political gaffes and posturing.

In the end I found a simple man, who works like everyone else, with ordinary looks. A guy that you wouldn’t notice on the street, and a manner that is best described as shy. He, Paul Potts, is my reminder that with all the turmoil and strife and idiocy in the world the human spirit can attain far more than what we see on the major news media everyday.

I share this with you and wish you a happy holiday.