Paris Bennett, Will She Live Up To The Hype? ( Has American Idol already found the winner ?)

Paris Bennett is only 17 years old and is from Fayetteville, Georgia. Paris is the granddaughter of Ann Nesby, who was the lead singer for Sounds of Blackness, a group that won three Grammy Awards. Paris sang “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks and “Take Five” by Billie Holiday for her American Idol 5 audition. Paula Abdul called Paris “phenomenal,” while Simon Cowell called her “unbelievable.” Paris advanced to Hollywood by a unanimous yes vote from the judges. After her audition, Paris was so overcome with emotion that she broke down in tears of happiness when telling her grandmother the news.

There are two things that could negatively impact Paris Bennett’s chances. By setting the bar high during the auditions, viewers will be expecting something spectacular every time that Paris takes the stage. Because so many news organizations are calling Paris the early favorite, viewers will have high expectations and will likely hold her to a higher standard. When people expect the world, one slip-up or bad performance can be enough to knock even a great singer out of the competition.

Another thing that could hurt Paris Bennett is that many viewers are likely to question if she really needs American Idol. She is a very talented and attractive young girl with a Grammy winning grandmother, who likely has numerous connections in the music industry. Paris could probably get a record deal without American Idol. In fact, she could probably negotiate a more lucrative deal for herself by not limiting herself to being bound to the American Idol contract. However, the perception of how easy it is to make it in the music industry and the reality are often two very different things. What better way to launch the career of a new artist than by appearing on a TV show with 35 million viewers?

One reason for the continued popularity of American Idol is this -- SMART MARKETING.

It is one of the few still family friendly shows on TV.

Even the New York Times admits this.

See excerpts from their report for instance here :

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/business/media/30idol.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

At Fox, the executives who buy the show from the company Mr. Fuller founded, 19 Entertainment, were similarly anxious about how yet another new season of "Idol" would start out. After all, the show's ratings increased a year ago, after Fox had anticipated that it might decline as much as 10 percent. This season, Peter Liguori, the president of Fox Entertainment, did not really want to go out on a limb with a prediction.

On the morning of Jan. 18, both Mr. Fuller and Mr. Liguori called for the overnight ratings of the "Idol" premiere as soon as they could. What they heard startled them almost into silence, a state surpassed only by the shock at networks competing with Fox. "American Idol," already top-rated, was up an astonishing 15 percent among the 18-to-49-year-old viewers that Fox most sought to reach. It was up almost 10 percent among all viewers, at 35.5 million, the second-largest audience ever for an entertainment show on Fox.

And the figures for the second week were mind-boggling. Last Tuesday's show was up 25 percent both in total viewers and in the 18-to-49 group from the corresponding week a year earlier.

The effect on overall network competition is staggering. Numbers like this every week from now until the end of the season would make Fox a threat to repeat its seasonal triumph in the 18-to-49 competition among the networks, despite not having the Super Bowl this season. ABC, which does have the game, had been expected to battle CBS to the end in that 18-to-49 category. Now, with "Idol," it looks as if Fox could zoom past both of them.

SNIP SNIP SNIP

"American Idol" has damaged all the other networks, though CBS the least. With its audience made up mostly of adults over 35, CBS has managed to stay reasonably stable against the "Idol" wave. ABC's efforts to start a comedy block on Tuesdays have been all but wiped out, and its new dramatic show this season, "Commander in Chief," which was already beginning to decline, has been devastated by the competition with "Idol" in the last two weeks. The WB network, which basically aimed at the same young female viewers who are the core of "Idol," announced last week that it was combining with UPN.

There are a lot of reasons why it's still so big," Mr. Fuller said. "It has become definitive. Other shows like it have come and gone. All the challengers have fallen in our wake."

Then, alluding to the fact that the program is off the air about half the year, he added: " I think the fact that we do it once a year is important, and the talent continues to be great. Kelly Clarkson has become the biggest-selling recording artist around the world."

Ms. Clarkson was the first "Idol" winner. Mr. Fuller also noted that last year's winner, Carrie Underwood, had sold more than two million copies of her first album.

Mr. Liguori declared that "Idol" now had a place in the nation's cultural cycle. "You have an N.F.L. season, a Nascar season and now an 'Idol' season," he said.

These limited broadcasts of "American Idol" stand in contrast to what other networks have done with their reality hits, like CBS with "Survivor," ABC with "The Bachelor," and NBC with "The Apprentice."

"Scarcity has started to mean something in television," Mr. Liguori said.

Mr. Fuller noted that Fox had pushed for more of the show in the early years. "I have been very resistant to extend to more in one season," he said. Now, "Peter Liguori and I are of very like minds about the program and the number of times we're doing it."

He said continuity had played an important role as well, with two top producers, Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick, sticking with the show since it originated in Britain. And he praised the Fox executive in charge of the program, Mike Darnell.

"Things on the whole have been pretty good between us and Fox," Mr. Fuller said. "There have been some issues, but they invariably have backed down."

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