Idol in the Internet Age

Ah-ha! She’s had an album, so that probably means she had a record deal! (Or that someone spent a lot of time playing on Photoshop.)

My infatuation with “American Idol” is quickly fading. Besides being in a bit of a hormone rage, I wasn’t interested enough in the Top 12 male contestants to watch the show last night. I’m still holding out for Josiah Leming and Kyle Ensley to be brought back by some freakish miracle (read my post on Leming & Ensley).

According to the show, this is “the talented group of contestants the show ever had”, which is what they say every season, which makes “Season 1 & 2″ contenders look like the a sorry lot of losers. Every season has had talented and not-so-talented people, and this season should be not different. Apparently it is.

Johns is also 29, I thought you had to be 28 to be on “American Idol”.

A few of the “Season 7″ contestants have already had their shots at recording contracts. The Irish lass, Carly “Hennesey” Smithson, had a $2 million record deal with RCA, but was dumped from the label after her debut album sold poorly. According to USA Today, Kristy Lee Cook signed with a production company (Britney Spears’, no less) and Aussie rocker Michael Johns’ band The Rising was on Maverick Records (and dropped). Read full article written by Marcos R. Della Cava, who intereviewed the founder of fan favorite, VoteFortheWorst.com. Ironically, the VoteForTheWorst.com founder is named Dave Della Terza. Hmm…is it me or is “Della” a really popular name?

Also read ABC’s article. Fox News, which is so quick to report on entertainment scancals is strangely silent on this story for now (since they’re owned by the same parent company as AI), but they have a lovely article on how the actors who play Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Hermione Granger (Emma Waston) in the movies may be dating in real life!

Of course, the only rule for “American Idol” is that you are good-looking and able to sing better than a cow in heat. “Idol” has given us some good talent–Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, and Carrie Underwood–and good entertainment–Sanjaya! But should they take on singers who’ve already had their shot at “the dream”?

“Idol’s” official response is that it’s a “storm in the teacup” (I’ve never had a storm in my teacup) and will pass. And it probably will because people want to be entertained and probably enjoy all this controversy. But did “Idol” really think that viewers wouldn’t find out about these contestants? We’ve got Google, after all!

While it doesn’t violate the rules (contestants need only “not be under contact”) and everyone should be given a second chance, I think allowing professionals to compete is wrong. Maybe they could do an “American Idol: Second Chances” edition (watch them steal my idea) where the audience re-discovers lost talent, but it doesn’t seem fair to me. Then again, I don’t make the rules of the game.

Even Joann Borgella the plus-sized model, who I like because she’s plus-sized, has already had modeling success, does she need to be a singer, too? How much exposure do these people need? I mean, really.

Plus as cute and amusing as the teenage contestants can be, do we really need the under-18 crowd to audition? They can’t even drive after midnight (11 PM in some states)! I guess it’s good for business, but sometimes it’s cool to get through puberty before competing in a televised contest.

That being said, give us the small town gals with the big dreams, the rocker with a voice of gold, a guy who lives in his car, not pros who couldn’t hack it the first time. That sounds cruel, I suppose, but we like the stories of the contestants as much as the contestants themselves. We like the unknowns to become “knowns”and chances to be given to people who’ve never had a shot. I understand these people have a dream, but so does everyone else who waits in line to audition and their voices deserve to be heard.