I HATE AMERICAN IDOL

I hate American Idol. I really do.

I think it’s an insidious and destructive force on the American media culture (which - let’s be honest - needs all the help it can get), an omnipresent televised influence that is causing Americans to believe that unless your voice meets some amorphous standard of performance quality and style, you should just shut up and stop singing.

Or maybe I should just lighten up. But still.

Everyone who can speak can sing. Really. Singing is just extended, rhythmic speech. Singing is a great gift—a fun, wholesome activity that builds community, expresses joy, sorrow and humor, entertains and binds us together in life’s transitional moments. There is no human tradition that is not made richer and illuminated by good music.

Practice and training can improve singing, by making the singer more aware of pitch, tone production and vocal technique. But just as ice skating is fun for those whose ankles will always wobble, singing can and should be fun for everyone. In fact, singing is unmitigated fun for kindergarteners. They love to learn new songs, and sing them again and again. They don’t worry about what the other kids think. Yet.

What bothers me is that children watch American Idol, and children are now developing this idea that singing is something that should be attempted only by the “talented.” Some children now believe that judging singers is an amusing spectator activity, and making fun of imperfect singers is perfectly OK. Hilarious and justified, in fact: anyone who dares to sing in front of a camera deserves our scrutiny and scorn. None of this encourages children—or their families—to participate joyfully in group or individual singing. In the American Idol paradigm, singing is now reserved for those who have a “good” voice.

Think about it. Our voices are an immutable and very personal aspect of our selves, as unique and unchangeable as fingerprints. When someone says “I don’t have a good voice,” it’s tantamount to saying “I don’t have a good face.” Your voice is your voice. If there is someone in your past who suggested that your singing voice is substandard, that person has done you harm, making you self-conscious about your primary expressive instrument. Thank goodness Bob Dylan didn’t believe the first 500 people who told him he couldn’t sing.

Community singing around a campfire got ragtag groups of settlers across the prairie, and singing has comforted those who remain behind, bereft, when lives are lost. Music releases emotion more effectively than words; while it’s wonderful to listen to exquisite vocal harmonies, nothing is more satisfying than actually singing yourself. It’s what we were meant to do as human beings.

And that’s what I tell my students—that they are born singers. Nobody—not even Simon—can tell you that you can’t sing.

Comments

[Kathie Marshall]

Though I happen to enjoy American Idol, I do understand your feelings about voice and song. Never a great singer, nonetheless I followed Rosie Fiore's solo in the fifth grade with my own solo at the holiday pageant. I was a squeaky, terrified mess. I can still see the pained expressions on my parents' faces! :)

Then voice...though I'm born in and have lived in the Los Angeles area all my life, I've been told four times I must be from Maryland because of my "accent". The fourth person told me, "Maryland accents sound awful!" (With apologies to everyone from Maryland, though I don't think I sound bad.)

Today's media culture seems to be teaching our young people there are only extremes to every possible dream of achievement. You are a famous celebrity--or a nobody. You can be an NFL or NBA player--or work at a fast food place. You can sing brilliantly--or don't bother. You can be model thin and model beautiful--or you just don't measure up. In this polarized view of the world, how do we help our students and our own children and grandchildren to value their assets and develop their interests without fear of failure because they aren't "the best"?

Kathie Marshall
Northridge, CA

[Gail Ritchie]

What I dislike most about American Idol is the notion that it's okay to ridicule other people. I don't watch the show, because I don't consider "reality" television entertaining in the least. But . . . I will admit to feeling so happy for Jennifer Hudson--she's an Oscar-winner, despite the fact that Simon from American Idol criticized her voice and she was voted off the show. And I agree with Kathie's comments about polarization--there are many shades of gray in and yet currently American society seems focused only on the poles.

[TeachMoore]

I agree with Gail, what I hate most about that show is the put-downs. Even the title of the show (what is it about these people that we should "idolize"?) bothers me.
BTW, I understand that Fantasia, another American Idol product, almost got that Oscar-winning Dreamgirls role, but she admitted that because she had not taken her education seriously, she was unable to read the lines well enough to pass the audition.

[Miss Profe]

Honestly, I have never watched AI. Not feeling the reality TV thing.

[superdestroyer]

I think of American Idol is ESPN for women. If you would watch ESPN or listen to sports talk radio you would hear exaxtly the same kind of insults and put downs. The basis of all insults and put downs is whether the player is going to the next level. Many times the put downs are: he cannot "play" at the next level, there are limits on his game, he is not talented enough, he is not athletic enough.

The message on ESPN is that unless you are good enough to be an all pro in your field then you are a failure.

[Nancy Flanagan]

"American Idol is ESPN for women"--what a great analogy! Thanks for a good chuckle, SD.

In my neighborhood, if you're not on a "select" travel team by the time you're 12 years old, you may as well hang up your skates or glove. I read once that Michael Jordan was cut from his JV basketball team--worth considering.

I occasionally have parents who ask me how to sell their child's musical instrument when the kid graduates. He's not going to major in music, so why keep the instrument? Well--so he can play it (as he's been enjoying playing it in band for the past 7 years). He will never be Wynton Marsalis, but can play in the community band, or a little Dixieland group at the country club-- or Taps in the cemetery on Memorial Day. It's all about making music.

[superdestroyer]

nancy,

My experience was when my daughter moved into 7th grade and I went to parents night. the orchestra teacher basically said that if your child was not taking private lessons, they were wasting their time. I knew about the travel teams but now it has expanded into music, art, and even academic subjects. High Schoolers who want to go to MIT or Johns Hopkins are not expected to go to summer programs in the sciences.

[rightwingprof]

"Nobody—not even Simon—can tell you that you can’t sing."

Utter nonsense. I can tell you you can't sing, just like I can tell you you can't add. AI isn't a little music class in grade school. The winner gets a recording contract.

And the auditions prove that there are far, far too many people who have never been told they can't sing, and should have. Don't they have parents?

[Trevor]

I agree with rightwingprof. Parents these days are way too easy on their kids, telling all of them that they're all special and unique in their own way. Then they all grow up thinking that they're just as good as other people at certain things, AKA singing, and really, all they're doing is making fools of themselves. I remember hearing about a recent survey that the new generation of adults is unbelievably narcissistic. And it show.

[Daryl]

I think that you may be confusing the point, Trevor and Rightwingprof. Nancy isn't saying that everyone has professional-level singing ability (or even the potential of having it). What Nancy is concerned about is the elitism that is encouraged by shows like American Idol - that if you can't do it as well as professional, DON'T. The unfortunate result is that people aren't willing to participate in singing in situations where it is perfectly appropriate (encouraged, even) to sing even if you're "terrible" at it - places like church/worship services, community vigils, etc. The point in situations like that isn't spectacular musical quality - it's doing something as a community.

No one told me when I was a kid how terrible I was at baseball, so I hung in there and played for 4 seasons until something else caught my fancy. In those four years I learned some valuable lessons about sportsmanship, trying your best, and being a part of team. Plus, I made a lot of great memories. Too bad I didn't have anyone like Rightwingprof or Trevor to pull me aside as a 7 year old and tell me how bad I was and that I'd never make the Majors. I'm sure I would have learned a valuable lesson from that, too.

[Ellen Holmes]

I must confess, I have never watched an actual episode of AI - however, I still can't escape its insanity. What are we doing as a nation when our morning news programs show soundbites of AI participants as if they were running for national office? What I think is more troubling for our students than their watching the obnoxious distasteful show itself, is when they see it given equal representation and import next to political, national, and world news! What sort of message does that send to them about what is important? If the American public was equally interested in national politics as they are in texting a vote for their favorite singer - we might actually end up with a leader of the free world worthy of idolizing.

[steve s]

I hate American Idol

I’m not even sure why I do. But it stirs something deep inside me like few modern phenomenoe of the 21st century can. I mean I just don’t dislike it. I loathe it. More than the terrorist or the War in Iraq. More than people who commit heinous crimes, or do bad things to puppies.

Maybe its due to the fact that three already wealth showbiz types are making millions more by contributing nothing to society; they are not educating , training or encouraging the wretched masses that come before them yearning to hit it big; nor are they displaying a modicum of talent themselves ( unless you consider Paula’s penchant for being a smart, successful showbiz type off screen while lapsing into fits of ditziness on screen to be a talent.)

Maybe its due to the fact that that it brings out a cross section of all that’s wrong with America. The hopefuls who want to be famous are silently endorsing Americas idol’s themselves; the latter being the do nothing, know nothing group of the latest paparazzi hounded bubble headed pretty boy’s and girl’s who’s legacy will be to survive eight bouts of rehab, or shave off their hair in a barber shop window.

Or maybe its due to the fact that the early rounds of each season’s auditions are more a three ring circus than a serious competition. Even the Miss America pageant pales in comparison. The hopefuls, for the most part, are either clueless as to what talent they possess ( like bad breath, even their best friends won’t tell them), or shameless masochist willing to do anything to attain Warhol’s proverbial minutes of fame, or in on the joke being perpetuated on the American public that the show has any redeeming value.

Paula, Randy, and Simon each have their own style. Paula is the typical mediocre wanna be almost Diva,
who before “Idol” would have been best remembered for her album “Forever Young Girl” (which by the way took 62 weeks to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, the longest an album has been on the market before hitting #1.)

Randy , although he tries to be cruel , comes across as a sincere, nice guy who would be better off
going back to playing bass for the rock group “Journey” or producing, promoting and cheering other artist as he did in his former capacity as a high powered executive for Columbia and MCA Records .

And than there is Simon, the true star of the show. Simon is probably the third most influential American alive today, behind our Commander in Chief and the new president of Microsoft.

The future of peoples lives and careers are determined by his decisions and words. The two things about Simon are his unpredictableness and his meanness. Simon is like the Sword of Damocles. Talent or no talent, you never know which way his is going to go. A female singer with whom the others are enamoured might get the axe because Simon doesn’t like the shade of eye shadow she put on that morning.
On the other hand an obviously marginal voice might get his thumbs up ( after his trademark mildly scathing critique of course) because God Simon believes he can be the muse, the pivotal person in someone’s career whose prodigal insight can propel an otherwise lost soul onto a career of grandeur.

But what I really dislike about Simon is his meanness. There is not a glint of compassion in his eye when he pronounces the death knoll to even the most naive, starry eyed hopeful . His critique’s, albeit usually accurate, are full of sad cliches and drone on and on like an incessant Howard Stern. Don’t get me wrong. I love Howard Stern. Stern possess a keen, insightful sarcastic sense of humor and the ability to pinpoint upcoming American trends and recognize farces better than the crew at Fox News or Talk Soup . And the guy is creative AND funny. Simon is neither. He just happened to come up with the right variation of a talent show at the right time, and was in a position to pitch it to the right people which will land him a place as an icon of American entertainment, and keeps him scowling all the way to the bank !

[Warren B.]

If you hate Idol, you'll really hate-- or maybe really like-- my blog, which critiques Idol from a musical (gasp!) perspective, with a particular focus on auditioning practices.

http://www.5thjudge.com/

[Kristy]

I'm a Music teacher and I watch American Idol. I agree with other posters in part, but also feel that anything that puts Music and singing in the public eye is worthwhile. For most of my childhood it was 'dorky' to sing and to enjoy making Music. Now, with American Idol and High School Musical, kids I teach are singing the songs and being able to tell me why they like an artist. I also like how different artists with unique styles get to portray their ideas to the audience. In England (where I'm from) we don't really have the same country Music traditions as here in the states. I guess I disagree with some of the show's comments and how they can destroy a person's dream - but I also see the enormous benefits of giving some artists a chance to be heard.

[distressed music]

It will expire soon
It is a negative horror gong show crippling and distorting and harming MUSIC APPRECIATION
the 'judges' are inept ridiculous sadistic money making souless machines
I DO NOT LIKE THIS SHOW
I PRAY FOR ITS END SOON

[american idol live videos]

the show does make crazy. you either love or hate it.

[CT]

I agree whole-heartedly. I am a musician and a singer/songwriter, and the thought that these people are supposed to be the future of music scares the deleted expletive out of me! What ever happened to the art of music? Just because you can put a piece of paper on someone else's drawing and trace it, doesn't make you an artist. The same goes for this glorified karaoke contest. There are plenty of karaoke bars across the world, why does this have to be on tv? Where are suicide bombers when you need them?

[Miguel]

I'm not sure which bothers me the most: the fact that this show exists in the first place or the fact that it is such a pop cultural phenomenon. I don't really understand the appeal of watching people cover other people's songs. We've got iTunes now. I can download that stuff and listen to the original artist. Better yet, the videos of those artists can often be found on YouTube. The particular singing style that gains traction with the judges and voters is not the style that a lot of the actual innovators themselves possess. I firmly believe that had this show existed throughout the last 50-60 years, the likes of Elvis, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, etc. would never have made it on this show.