Dear “America/Britan’s Got Talent” and “Pop/American Idol” and their ilk,
Please stop. You present mediocrity as talent, “sob story” as a substitute for stage presence, allow only karaoke style repetition, and the worst transgression of all – you allow the unwashed masses to whittle any slight talent to the most common denominator by “voting”. They are not qualified, as a group to judge talent. These are the same idiots who made Britney Spears a mega-star, and continue to go gooey over Patrick Swayze. They are HORRIBLE judges of talent.
Take your darling Susan Boyle as an example. She got a fine voice. But that’s my point, it’s just fine – nothing your average studio singer or Podunk opera performer couldn’t pull off, only about 10x better. Her stage presence seems to be “I was a creepy shut-in, but I’m not as horrible as you think”. The narrative excuses the mediocrity. Well, not for me.
Meanwhile, real talent busts their collective asses in studios, bars, dance-halls, basements, choirs, and breaks their hearts to make a living as PROFESSIONAL musicians. And Susan’s first album goes platinum because the pretty TV people said she was great and the idiots keep voting. Surrounded by all the other swill on that show, she looked like she knew what she was doing. She doesn’t.
It’s inhumane.
Please produce a talent show that scours the bars in Austin TX for example. Or a singer/songwriter competition, judged by real musicians and poets – not phone –ins from non-entities. You have the power to put the ART back in ARTist. Please do so.
Please stop. You present mediocrity as talent, “sob story” as a substitute for stage presence, allow only karaoke style repetition, and the worst transgression of all – you allow the unwashed masses to whittle any slight talent to the most common denominator by “voting”. They are not qualified, as a group to judge talent. These are the same idiots who made Britney Spears a mega-star, and continue to go gooey over Patrick Swayze. They are HORRIBLE judges of talent.
Take your darling Susan Boyle as an example. She got a fine voice. But that’s my point, it’s just fine – nothing your average studio singer or Podunk opera performer couldn’t pull off, only about 10x better. Her stage presence seems to be “I was a creepy shut-in, but I’m not as horrible as you think”. The narrative excuses the mediocrity. Well, not for me.
Meanwhile, real talent busts their collective asses in studios, bars, dance-halls, basements, choirs, and breaks their hearts to make a living as PROFESSIONAL musicians. And Susan’s first album goes platinum because the pretty TV people said she was great and the idiots keep voting. Surrounded by all the other swill on that show, she looked like she knew what she was doing. She doesn’t.
It’s inhumane.
Please produce a talent show that scours the bars in Austin TX for example. Or a singer/songwriter competition, judged by real musicians and poets – not phone –ins from non-entities. You have the power to put the ART back in ARTist. Please do so.
6 comments:
i love american idol for what it is, essentially a very entertaining overproduced popularity contest. i have no delusions that the winner of american idol is the most talented singer in america. it's just damn fun to watch. (by the way, kelly clarkson will always be my american idol, F the rest)
RIP Patrick Swayze. she's like the wind indeed...
We see the same thing with uke players on Youtube, and we've talked about it before. Some poor schmuck with REAL talent has 34 subscribers, and someone with very little talent has 167,000 subscribers. Is there an explanation?
Booze - She only has 123,559 subs. Just saying.
Deach - I don't know who you mean...I wasn't referring to any specific person! And is it me or does Simon have an abnormally large head in that picture?
Great post. I was shocked, and still am, when I decided to check out local music. All my life I was fed fucking Susan Boyle/Britney Spears/whatever other bullshit. Then I went to an open mic in May and have been to about 50 local shows since.
I'm sure everywhere is the same. Tons of absolutely incredible musicians rocking it night after night for tips, while Susan Boyle's sorry ass is on TV.
Grumpy: I couldn't have said it better.
Post a Comment