I've been to Graceland! What a fun place for these kids to get to visit, especially getting to meet Lisa Marie and Priscilla! I just love all of them, and hate to see any of them leave the group! It's always so hard when it gets so close to the end.
HERE IS AN INTERESTING POST FROM MJs BIG BLOG WITH MY OWN PERSONAL COMMENT ADDED TO IT LATER...
This article originated in the LA Times a couple of weeks ago:
"The Los Angeles Times asked network executives, writers, historians and music executives to dissect the show to solve the mystery of why "American Idol" has come to rule the airwaves."
Some of the featured pundits: Kurt Andersen, novelist and public radio host, Neil Gabler, cultural historian (and my ex-college professor!), and Lauren Zalaznick, president of Bravo.
From Jacob Austen, author of TV-a-Go-Go: Rock on TV From American Bandstand to American Idol:
"Through the '60s, families watched TV together. All the shows were designed for the entire family. It didn't break up demographics. "The Ed Sullivan Show" would have an act for the kids, but it would be a pop singer, an opera singer or a juggler -- things that would be for the whole family because people only had one TV.
So American Idol is a throwback. It's a very simple idea, but it's actually pretty revolutionary at this point because things are really broken up into "now-casting" instead of broadcasting, "now-casting" of a demographic.
The other thing that makes it different is that there's an idea these days that everybody wants to be an insider. Everybody has to know what the box office is for different films this week and what the ratings are. This show feeds to that. On the one hand, on any game show you're supposed to be watching at home and pretending you're playing, but this one, instead of pretending that you're a person singing, you're sitting in the same chair as the three judges. It's really a key that Paula and Randy are inarticulate because the viewers feel like they are as good or a better judge of talent than these professionals."
This Variety article details the huge cash cow Idol has become. Not only for the Idol producers and Fox, but for everything it touches--including sponsors like Cingular Wireless, magazines and talk shows that cover Idol, guest musical stars (who see a huge spike in sales after an appearance) and Sony BMG, the label that releases the winners' albums.
"In its fifth season, American Idol is re-arranging the entire showbiz landscape. There are hits and there are hits; this show is a full-fledged cultural phenom.
Idol is steamrolling every show in its path and generating hundreds of millions of dollars every year in ad sales for Fox. But "Idol" riches are also trickling into many other sectors of the showbiz economy.
TV shows, newspapers and record labels that touch the show have enjoyed a lucrative ride on the "Idol" express. And the show's shadow economy isn't limited to media -- it's also lifted the fortunes of a wide array of Idol carpetbaggers, from Cingular to Coca-Cola to a host of licensees.
Still, the non-Fox profiteering may benefit the network in less apparent ways. With more companies having a stake in keeping "Idol" alive as a brand, it may help fulfill the net's hope that the show becomes a "Simpsons"-like fixture that thrives to the end of the decade and beyond.
All the spillover has raised a question: What exactly does it mean for a network that the most popular TV show in years blesses so many outside players? Herewith, a look at the net effect for Fox and for the other leading Idol beneficiaries."
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Shakira's appearance on the show in late March boosted sales of her latest album ¡°Oral Fixation, Vol. 2¡å from about 5,000 copies a week to 81,000 copies the week of her performance. The disc sale count is now beyond 834,000 units.
When Queen recently performed, sales of the band's new album Cold Stone Classics leapt from 14,000 units the week before the show to 62,000 units a week later. It was an infomercial for us, says Dominic Griffin, director of film and television for Hollywood Records, which reps Queen. Music publishing execs, some of whom pooh-poohed Idol when it debuted, have changed their attitude.
EMI Music Publishing has licensed more than 500 songs to American Idol, for which the company receives a multitude of fees. Martin N. Bandier, co-chief exec of EMI Publishing, says the effect of Idol is a mini tsunami that has made up for the declining CD and physical record market.
MY COMMENT :
I've been putting my marketing cap on for several weeks now trying to determine why this show has become the phenomenon that it is.
I mean to be able to mow down all serious contenders ( you name it --- Olympics, Grammy Awards, etc.) and bring in close to 35 million viewers (that's 1 in 10 of the American populace watching every week) and continue doing so for 5 seasons and INCREASING its viewership year after year is nothing short of amazing !
And get this : This isn't simply an American phenomenon. You should also realize that this show is ALSO BEING FOLLOWED worldwide. I realize that many countries have their own version of Idol but AMERICAN IDOL stands unique in that it is the ONLY Idol show that people from Asia, Europe, Canada and Latin America watch.
You should realize that I've read fan posts for Taylor Hicks IN SPANISH. I've also read fan posts on the Idol boards from countries like Singapore, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Germany and even Iraq and Afghanistan ! ( but I bet the later two are from soldiers and contractors who get to watch the show ).
I can think of the following reasons ( but they¡¯re not necesarily the only ones )¡
1) It is ageless in its demographic, literally from to 90 (or as Nat King Cole would sing, For Kids from 1 to 92). I mean, if you could bleep Rod Stewart saying the word "balls" out, the just shows you how family oriented the show is trying to be.
Parents and Guardians are getting tired of all the crap that makes for TV nowadays with all the profanities and sexual innuendoes being thrown at underaged kids everyday. This is one of the very few primetime programs that at least makes a little effort at keeping things relatively clean (not that it always succeeds, but at least the effort is there). Which just shows you one lesson from Marketing 101 that people in the media tend to forget : IF YOU FULFILL A NEED INSTEAD OF A PERSONAL AGENDA, YOU WILL GET YOUR AUDIENCE.
Families want wholesome entertainment, PERIOD. Ask yourself, who is giving it to them ? NOT MANY I MUST SAY.
2) It has a sporting event feel. It's like watching the unfolding of a football or basketball season before your very eyes with one major difference : YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHO THE WINNER WILL BE WHILE STILL NOT KNOWING IF YOUR CHOICE WILL SUCCEED.
This is a blend of empowerment and uncertainty. The thrill of joining the competition with the touch of your hand makes you feel as if you're INVOLVED IN THE SPORT ITSELF.
Also, the fact that the show brings in relatively ineloquent judges like Randy Jackson ( how many times does he have to use the words : WHAT's UP, YO YO, DAWG, and CHECK IT OUT DUDE ) gives the audience a sense of empowerment.
They feel that they can do better as critics than the judges themselves. If you implicitly flatter the audience, they will respond.
3) More than the sporting feel, it carries with it more emotion and passion by adding the human interest factor in the show. As a result of that, people feel *connected* to the contestant because :
A) The contestant, with all of his/her struggles and frailties, mirror a lot of the viewer's stuggles.
B) The contestant gets to have the chance to overcome his/her struggles.
C) The viewers become emotionally invested in the success or failure of the contestant.
4) The fact that technology and telecommunications have improved to what we have today ADDS to its success. Chat rooms, blogs, forums and a whole heap of insta-opinion, insta-debate spaces have made virtual strangers from all over the country become instant chat-mates and friends with mutual interests to discuss.
5) It caters to a still large and relatively musically under-served demographic : THE BABY BOOMERS. These are the people who were born in the late 40's to the early 60's who grew up on big band, jazz, rock, soul and rock music.
The music of the past decade with its emphasis on rap, R&B and hip hop have relatively by-passed this demographic which REALLY HOLDS THE PURSE STRINGS OF AMERICA.
This is a market that has not been well served and that is one of the reasons for plummeting CD sales and mediocre audience ratings in the Grammies for the past few years.
By bringing back music that the boomers loved and meshing them with current music, the show is a stroke of genius. It UNITES generations so that they can appreciate each other's genres in one unique talent show.
Should one even wonder why Taylor Hicks has been always up there when the voting tallies come out ? I suspect that the majority of the votes come from the Generation X and Boomer demographic. Taylor, with his Gray Hair and his soul style is one of the few contestant that IDENTIFIES with them.
It's just a winning formula on so many levels.
An interesting question would be why is it so much more successful than a show like Star Search or many other talent contests we've had in the past ?
I think that answer is more subtle, but really has to do with being able to vicariously live through the lives of each contestants and to feel that you have the power to make him/her a superstar with your telephone. The SENSE OF INVOLVEMENT and EMPOWERMENT that the show gives to viewers is the genius of the show.
I'd be interested in hearing more of your opinions explaining the success of this show. You see, the fact that I am even interested in listening to your opinions ( so that I can incorporate some of them in my marketing strategy) makes this show even more relevant in the real world. YOU GET TO LEARN FROM IT.
