AMERICA VOTED: It was prophesied, by me in March and by Fienberg as soon as he auditioned, and so it has come to pass. Phil^2 is your fifth straight WGWG to win American Idol.
So here's my question: can Idol fix the WGWG problem? If so, how?
added: Is Phil^2, as the NYT's Jon Caramanica asserts this morning, "easily the best" of the five WGWGs, "not a dullard or a mook or a boy made good ... steadily great throughout the season, never once in the bottom three, and even when he underwhelmed, he came off as a bored genius in a remedial class, going through the motions and hoping to sneak through."
Yes. Don't allow any instruments in the auditions or performances.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue Scotty McCreery wasn't really a WGWG. He was merely a WG. And he's the one champ in the WGWG Era who has been a clear success (though David Cook's first album did do OK as well). Prohibiting instruments is one possibility, but they also could adopt more of a country flavor, considering Scotty and the rest of their country contestants have been their most successful in recent seasons.
ReplyDeleteOne hypothesis: this is the result of Simon Cowell mentally checking out, and then leaving the show. Had he still been there, and been respected, he'd have criticized these guys harder and helped the women make better choices.
ReplyDeleteI don't think so, simply because the only groups that still follow this show religiously and actually take the time to vote are teenage girls and middle-aged women. WGWG will win those demographics every time.
ReplyDeleteI'd argue against banning instruments, because I think they've encouraged artistry, as much as you can talk about artistry on idol with a straight face. The easier solution is to not cast a WGWG for a year a see what happens. Because if both Lauren Alaina and Jessica Sanchez types can't take down the WGWG, noone can. Regardless, I bet the black male soul/r&b singer will still finish about 4th.
ReplyDeleteI would argue your assumption that this is a "problem." I'm not saying I'm a big fan of white guys with guitars, but neither do I think that it would make much of a difference had a white girl with a guitar or a white guy with a piano had won one of these years. And if Adam Lambert had happened to play guitar, would you have then disappointed if he had won his season?
ReplyDelete"Idol" is not the United Nations. It doesn't strive for diversity, and it doesn't achieve diversity, and that's just the niche it occupies. Early on, when it was fresh and novel, there was more randomness to the contestants and the votes, but it has long since grown old and settled into a routine, just like anything (and anyone) else, and that routine is pretty basic middle-of-the-road pop -- which tends to be a format dominated by white guys.
If Jessica won, do you think suddenly there would be a wave of Hispanics watching Idol next year? If Joshua won, would there be more blacks? I think it's the audience that determines who wins, not the winner determining who watches.
I'd also argue that P-squared actually is the most different WGWG that they've had, and that to lump him and Scotty and Lee Dwyze into the same category based on their race and their instrument is to overlook the fact that they have little in common musically. I like listening to Phil, and could see myself enjoying his song on the radio (although perhaps not enough to buy his album), which I couldn't say for the past few winners.
Jessica isn't hispanic.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem was Lee DeWyze's win in a weak season, one whose strongest woman was the reliable-but-not-commercial Crystal Bowersox, and where no one figured out how to control Siobhan Magnus' gift. (And three other women were the first three gone.) That's the season in which the streak should've been broken, and, yeah, axing five straight women at the start of the next year's finals didn't help.
ReplyDeleteH L Mencken said that democracy is the notion that the people know what they want and deserve to get it....good and hard. Idol is pretty much the fulfillment of that observation. Until the ratings decline reaches critical mass (as long as Ford and Coke are willing to dump millions into the show) why would they change? As Fred said above WGWG isn't a "problem" until the money stops.
ReplyDeleteP-squared may be different than the other WGWGs, but he's not the "most different" of anything, considering he's a complete Dave Matthews rip-off. That said, I did see *some* growth over the season, and the Mumford-esque victory song at least sounds like someone other than DMB. But I can't get past the facial expressions, the dancing style, even the guitar positioning, let alone the growl, that is so derivative. WGWG isn't Idol's problem, uniqueness is.
ReplyDeleteI was at the Phillies game last night, so I haven't actually watched the show yet, and, um, THIS REALLY HAPPENED?
ReplyDelete<span>“Diana, we have conquered Broadway, we have made our own music, and now, with the help of David Webb Jewelry, I have a way to make this last forever ... I will do anything to have the most imaginable life together ... Will ... you ... marry ... me?”</span>
I think it's the audience that determines who wins, not the winner determining who watches.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it both? If potential viewers know from the start that their favored contestants will have no chance of winning (and at this point, they probably should know), then won't that make them less likely to bother watching?
There's currently no restriction on number of votes from a given phone number, right? Just the whole "at least two hours after the show"? If not, imposing a five- or ten-vote-per-number limit might make it fairer.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched it either, but yeah. Shudder.
ReplyDeleteWait, this show is still on?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this has been the best season of AI ever because I didn't hear a damn thing about it.
I'm with Caramanica.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the WGWG meme ignores some real differences in genre. Scotty, in particular, was very different, in his genre. Plus, for him, the guitar was really a very, very, very small part of his presentation.
ReplyDeleteI lost interest in this season very quickly, so I can't speak to it specifically, but in the other years, I really think the only true problem is Lee DeWyze. I think you can point to positive reasons why the other guys won in other years (yes, even Kris over Adam), but not Lee.