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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: American Idol's Simon Cowell = A**hole
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David Stambaugh
Film God
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/1102d.jpg)
Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 01-27-2003 06:13 PM
I watched American Idol for the first time last week (Weds). First off, I have to say that *most* -- nearly all -- of the contestants undoubtedly know exactly what they're getting into. They have to sign waivers to get on camera, and you can bet that the waiver says the AI show reserves the right to say anything about you, no matter how insulting you may find it, and/or depict you in any light, favorable or unfavorable, and you waive your rights to claim you've been insulted or slandered (or is it libeled?). You take your chances.
I didn't find Simon to be nearly as obnoxious as I was expecting. All 3 of the judges had plenty of harsh criticism for some contestants. Simon may occasionally be a little more pointed with his barbs, but that's what the show's about and that's why people watch it. Simon is doing what he's paid to do.
And as someone else said, the producers are deliberately picking a cross-section of good and bad (and REALLY bad) singers. There's NOTHING random about who gets chosen to be on camera.
I happened to watch a show on MTV last night called "Made". It was about a high school geek who wanted to make the varsity basketball team. They hired a professional basketball coach to coach the kid for 6 weeks. Well the kid had ZERO natural talent for basketball, and the coach was pretty blunt about some of his comments. But there was nothing "personal" about it. And even with a pro coach, although the kid's basketball skills did improve a lot, it was clear he would never be really good. So it is with some wannabe singers. Trying to make it in show business (or sports, or writing, or whatever you want to name) is often about rejection.
American Idol is really not very different from The Gong Show in some ways.
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David Stambaugh
Film God
![](http://www.film-tech.com/ubbmembers/1102d.jpg)
Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 01-27-2003 07:57 PM
The ratings for American Idol last week were the highest in its [brief] history. As far as Simon Cowell, I never heard of him until this show came along. Does he own a piece of AI? If he does, he's going to go out there and hype the hell out of it. That's show biz.
Last week they were auditioning in LA (Rose Bowl?) and they said there were over 10,000 people lined up for a chance to be on the show. With that many applicants, and with everyone now knowing exactly what AI is all about, I doubt they have to hire any actors to purposely be bad or good. They have plenty of everything they want. Anything is possible though.
Either way, whether or not there are "plants" among the early contestants for the sake of entertainment (good ones or bad ones), the process of elimination will leave only the ones with talent. If the eventual winner is someone who was an unknown and this winds up being their big break into show business, the show has fulfilled its obligation to viewers (more or less).
Have you ever watched the Anna Nicole show on E!? Now THERE'S a setup. Reality show? Give me a break! It's mostly carefully orchestrated to be a spectacle and a freak show. Even so it's still fun to watch.
Why is it that as I get older, I find myself being more tolerant of this kind of stuff.
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