American Idol

I don't dislike everything about this show, in some ways I actually like it because it gives you a chance to get to know the performers a bit. While video killed the radio star, TV certainly saved the pop idol. I agree with Martha Stewart's view of omnimedia and cross-breeding to make healthier stock. Music certainly needed something and the Brits (who gave us American Idol) and TV saved our asses again, just like they did after Kennedy died, when the Beatles on Ed Sullivan got us all happy and musical again.

So now every other new star is coming off this show, its ratings are huge. I'm happy to see music on TV, I'm happy to see singers on TV, at all levels... let people see how hard it is. As with the dance competitions, hearing the opinions of those with well-developed ears and eyes expands our own ability to appreciate the components of the artform. I used to think singing was easy too, for those specially gifted few. Now I realize how much of it is craft and hard work. It's been a real reality check and it has sharpened our artistic sensibilities. My 11-year old can barely tell the good singers from the bad ones. With five years of singing under my belt I'm becoming better at spotting the flaws and assets, but it can be tough, particularly when it's a capella and you've never heard the song before.

Mary J. Blige made an interesting comment about the Grammy attention she received this year. She said "When people can see you, they award you." Like Mary, we see these performers humanized, as imperfect beings, like us. We commiserate with the one with the baby daughter, the one who spent her career so far singing back-up, the one splayed on the internet. We watch their auditions, their dedications, their practices. We watch their joy when they make it through each elimination and by the time that winner is elected the whole country knows as much about them as their own family members.

The problem for me is that, ultimately, the show is exactly what Simon keeps saying it is... it is a singing competition. Personality is definitely a factor, but artistic expression and message are not. With this type of emphasis we would have plenty of Mariahs and Christinas dominating our airwaves (hello) but how about the Lennons, Dylans and Madonnas. Those artists went into music not because they had great vocals, in fact, Dylan in particular took a lot of flack over his vocals, they made music because they had something to say and music was the art they used to do that. So now the new music, the music of the 21st Century is fantastic, vocally. Kelly Clarkson has the goods, but, as I listened to Kellie Pickler last night singing something that Loretta Lynn could have written, I thank God for artists like Natalie Mains and Billie Joe Armstrong, both highly awarded by their peers, for standing up, speaking out and being unafraid.

We may enjoy vocals, but what we really need are voices.