Link: http://backtorockville.typepad.com/the_other_door/2008/01/is-idol-bringin.html#more
Is ‘Idol’ lying to us all?
At least two “American Idol” contestants this season have established recording backgrounds.
Kristy Lee Cook, the contender played up Tuesday for selling a horse to get to the audition, was once signed to a label and Spears’ production company and BMI. Carly Hennessy, who will be seen soon, was once the subject of a huge Wall Street Journal story because of all the money MCA put into her 2002 album “Ultimate High” which ultimately sold less than 500 copies.
“I think it ruins the show,” Maura Johnston, editor of the blog Idolator, told abc.news. “I think it’s treading too closely to the line that they’re trying to fool the viewer into thinking these people have real back stories and are totally new to the business.”
Johnston guessed that “Idol” makers might be reacting to the flat sales of show winners and are “trying to go for the kind of people…who have been seen as having star potential by other executives. It’s not a sure thing, but it’s a little bit more of a sure thing.”
But New York Magazine says, “So what?”
“We’re not worried. In fact, much of the fun of American Idol comes from seeing bland, entitled semi-pros get put in their place by the tone-deaf Sanjayas of the world. Remember Melinda Doolittle, last season’s annoying, falsely modest (though hugely talented) professional backup singer? She’d recorded with Kirk Franklin, Michael McDonald, and Aaron Neville, then she came on Idol and lost to Blake Lewis. No matter how unfair it may seem to have pros in an amateur competition, we can all be sure that, in the end, America’s bad taste will prevail. “
| Ward W. Triplett and David Frese, The Star
America is going to choose who it likes best as an Idol, not a singer. Why do you think Sanjaya went so far last year, because 13 yr. olds pervaded the vote. The only question is does AI really skew the voting?
Let my peoooooople gooooooooooooo...