American Idol

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
Your wife is probably like me. I like AI because I see it as a talent contest. I don't vote on any of the contestants and I've never bought any of the AI contestants' music... I just simply enjoy the competition aspect of the show..

 

[EricShane]

way back early on, there was a guy named Brent Keith that made it to the wild card round (a country singer guy) anyway.. hes from my hometown! and used to work in the building next to wear I worked, Ive talked to him many times!

 

[Calebs Acre]

I guess that the Idol demographics vary depending on your part of the country! Since most of my friends are music industry types...some are artists, publishers, producers, engineers, studio musicians, etc., gender doesn't matter...we all watch the show.

Several of the "undiscovered" artists that I have represented over the years submitted songs to the songwriter contest, but none of them ever auditioned for the show. Some of the songwriters are too old to audition, but they enjoy guessing what's going to happen.

Even the successful artists I know watch the show whenever they can since it's become such a viable vehicle for bringing new acts into the business.

At first, no one wanted to admit they watched, now, they have extensive discussions about who will win, what kind of record they should make, etc.

So, there are a lot of recording artists who might not like it being called a "chick show". Then again, some of those artists may LIKE that title. LOL.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

DBF and I watch it every week. Even if I miss it, he still watches (and flips back and forth to the basketball games of course LOL).

We were very sorry to see Allison go. Thought for sure she and Adam would be the top two - they definitely deserved to be. No matter how the show ends, those two will make it big (I hope!)

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Adam could not compare to Robert Plant, Steven Tyler, or David Coverdale. Vocally his scream is more like a piglet on a Broadway stage who's getting whirled around by the tail. I don't care if he's gay or not but for me the way he carries himself lacks masculinity unlike the three rockers I mentioned. I only like his look somewhat as sometimes it's just a bit too Village People for me.

I don't know why Kris is still in the competition. He completely lacks power. I see him as a Mouseketeer.

Danny is a great singer and I could see him selling alot of CD's.

I think Allison went home to early.

And just what sort of mentoring did Slash do. We saw very little critiquing from him. The little we saw was him saying something about Adam needing to control the over the top high notes and bring in his lower register because it was really good. Adam didn't take heed to that advice. Slash was way to nonchalant about mentoring. It was like he was there for exposure and to collect a paycheck. His heart didn't seem in it at all.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Why don't you tell us how you really feel.

I have to agree with you on the Slash thing. Of all the great rock singers in the world, they chose Slash? What were they thinking?

 

[SarahBeth9394]

The only reason I can think is exposure for Slash's solo project. But uh he's not a singer. To bad they couldn't have gotten Zep's manager except they'd have to bleep him every two seconds (if he's still alive).

 

[Calebs Acre]

I hope you realize that they show you just a little smidgen of the mentoring sessions, so I would never venture a guess based on a 30 second snippet of video tape on what Slash did or did not offer the contestants.

Slash is a performer and I'm sure he had valuable information to impart on these young artists from his perspective. If you do not think that EVERY SINGLE PERSON who has performed or mentored on that show is not there to plug something, then you don't know the entertainment business. LOL. I'm SURE they chose him because he has some sort of affiliation with their management or label associations.

I'm not a fan of Slash, I just think that any musician with his touring and studio experience at the success level he attained deserves some degree of respect for his knowledge from those who have less.

As for Adam's performance, he DID, in fact, heed Slash's advice and did not go into that higher register as he normally would have done. I sure noticed it.

Listen to the dry screams of any artist (those not electronically enhanced via live sound reinforcement or studio engineering) and then we'll know who has the "better voice."

Regarding masculinity....until you work behind the scenes, you have no idea about the true sexual preferences of different artists. There was a very effective promotions and PR machine behind the artists until recent years and many have been long "protected" because it was thought the truth would damage their career.

Each person has their own redeeming qualities as an artist. Adam is not competing against Coverdale or Tyler or Plant. That vocal style is now considered "old fashioned" by today's music standards. Don't get me wrong, I really love to hear Steven Tyler both in and out of the studio and have heard him do some remarkable stuff just sitting in the studio lounge....he'll NEVER be "old fashioned" to me. But, as long as American Idol competes based on performances of covers, you should try to judge based on whether the artist performed in a style that you recognized as "his or hers" and not a different identity every week.

Just a different perspective.......

 

[SarahBeth9394]

I hope you realize that most of what you mention are things one does not need to be involved in the industry to know. I stand by all my opinions. Yes you have a different prospective when it comes to being in the recording studio and I'll take your word for it. But when Adam sings it's like nails on a chalkboard and since he sang a Zep song it's more than ok to compare him to Plant (even ok to compare him to other screamers) and in my opinion he just didn't. We have seen the judges compare the contestants to the originals many times. Adam was different. But I'll take Robert Plant any day. The "Better Voice" is in the ears of the beholder and what they prefer.

 

[Calebs Acre]

Yep......judgment IS in the ear of the beholder. I agree. That's why there are so many different genres of music!!

I guess I read a lot of venom in your post and didn't exactly understand it. Could be just my misinterpreting the tone of posts, since that is easily done and I tend to read tone wrong.

As far as people knowing what goes on behind the scenes in the industry, actually, I find that lots of people have no idea what happens and are very naive about it.

I was a manager and corporate officer at Power Station Studios (now Avatar Studios www.avatarstudios.net), working for Tony Bongiovi (yes, we developed Bon Jovi and others). I also worked in his many production and publishing companies in management and as a corporate officer for many years. I also was one of the managers who opened Avatar Studios when the new owner opened it after its sale in the 1996. We were lucky to host most of the top recording acts and we developed and produced a large number of big names, too. Just thought I would mention my background so you would know my perspective. Tony Bongiovi was would talk to artists EXACTLY like Simon, but with expletives. I can usually predict what Simon will say because I of so many years with Tony. For fun, I also did some work as a vocal coach and am currently writing a book about what vocalists need to know about recording and live sound equipment and techniques. It used to be a wonderful business!!!

Now, I am watching "Dancing With The Stars" and that is an art I WISH I knew more about---DANCE!!! I was so clumbsy that my mom wouldn't even let me take dance! LOL.