'The American Idol Phenomenon Continues: AI Classic Edition?'
By J. James Estrada (02/02/07)
With the sixth season of American Idol underway, there appears to be no slow down in the popularity of the singing competition which has become a worldwide phenomenon. According to the ratings for the first couple of weeks, AI continues as the juggernaut of primetime television viewing. Forget about Exxon’s record profits, has anyone put a number on the dollars generated by this Fox television sensation?
As with most runaway hits, the challenge is to keep the content lively and fresh. AI has the built in component of drawing from a “talent” pool of hundreds of thousands of new faces every season. The word talent is in parenthesis because, as even casual viewers can tell you, the early stages of the program highlight contestants who are “not quite right for this competition.” Some of the shows rejected auditions are likely to hear the words, “What the hell was that?” and be compared to “Cher after a visit to the dentist,” or, even physically demeaned (see “bush baby”).
The end of this season will crown a new “American Idol.” It will then be left to producers and marketers to fully capitalize on the national recognition this individual would have achieved. Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are two big time winners in the AI aftermarket. Ruben Studdard, for instance, is not. Studdard’s demise was sealed when he and his handlers limited his well-earned national audience to a very small niche audience (street thrash). While Underwood, too, designed her appeal to a niche crowd (country music), it is a niche that has deeper and wider roots in American music history.
So what comes next for the AI steamroller? Overexposure is a danger, but fans seem willing to take in as much as they can. Perhaps an even further audience awaits a venture called American Idol: Classic Edition. This is a new proposal to the generation of singers who missed their chance with the currently formatted AI. That is, for singers between the ages of 30 and 50, AI Classic is your road from obscurity to recognition.
Let’s face it, these kids trying out for American Idol do not hold the last word on talent in America. There is a more seasoned element embedded in the fabric of this nation that has more going for it than pimple cream and cute body parts. Those born between 1957 and 1977 have seen their share of life’s ups and downs (thank you Gladys Knight ) and would bring a richness that comes from experience to the show. Each performer would carry a story of a thousand mountains climbed and a dozen ventures wrecked. For in this age category, life is what it is; not what it can be. That may sound bad, but it’s not. A chance to be on Classic, would be just one page in a book full of chapters. And that might be refreshing to see.
Can a mother of seven become the next “American Idol?” A grand idea? A great task? To be sure, but in the light of morning we find that some of the loftier thoughts that fill our nights are not always too brilliantly unreachable.
J. James Estrada
(Printer friendly version) Email: J. James Estrada
