The mega-hit American Idol, which became one of televisions greatest shows, began with a British hit that migrated to American. The producers were trying to market both fame and music in order to repackage the American Dream and make people feel as if anyone could be a star. This format met with harsh resistance in American production circles because executives believed that it was just another music show. However, with a little luck, Pop Idol made a successful migration to American homes and became a success due to the cheap costs of production, favorable position, and its pulse on the American Dream.
In order to tell the story of American Idol, it is necessary to start way back in Australia with Popstars. This successful show centered on auditioning and creating a band. This format made huge waves in Britain and caught the attention of Fuller and 19 Entertainment. Popstars was followed the formation of an all girl band that was to be named TrueBliss. Unfortunately, the biggest flaw that the show had was that once the audition process was over, audiences became bored with the show. This was occurring beside the Eurovision Song Contest, which utilized audience participation via a telephone vote.
Pop Idol would improve on Popstars by being harsher and allowing the audience vote that had been such a hit with the Eurovision Song Contest. The idea was to move away from the success of the actual music and rely more on the drama to carry the show. This way, even if a particular song flopped, the immanent elimination and the harsh criticism would certainly carry the show. In order to utilize continuous audience participation, not to mention drama, Pop Idol ran 15 weeks long and only kept the audition portion of Popstars.
The audience vote was viewed as an integral part of the show. The ability to have even limited control over the winner not only drew people in to cast their ballots, but energized people into pulling both friends and family into the show. Furthermore, audience voting gave everyone something to talk about at the office, and encouraged people to have a greater buy-in with the show. The grand prize was also alluring. The idea that a contestant’s life might get turned around based on the audience’s actions made the prize that much greater. This format had monumental success due to the growth of ratings throughout the season. The show was hailed as a success with ten million viewers in Britain.
This is the format that was sold to American executives. Unfortunately, American Idol was passed up by ABC and other networks. At the time, this was a curious occurrence since each network was trying to snap up reality television shows in order to emulate the success of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Survivor. However, the massive success of Pop Idol was seen as a provincial and British. This sentiment was reinforced by the failure of both Making the Band and Pop Stars. Network executives diagnosed these failures as an inherent product of the fractured American music taste. Since music taste was particular for each demographic, any music show was seen as an impossible sell to a larger audience. While Fox agreed to accept the show, they would only air it on the condition that it was prepaid for with advertising revenue. While gathering this revenue proved difficult with a tenuous concept, American Idol producers got a break. Fortunately, the show was bought because of the low cost of production and the fact that Rupert Murdoch had a daughter who was managing a British portion of Newscorp, and happened to love Pop Idol. After a persuasive phone call, where she explained how this show had become a phenomenon, Fox agreed to purchase the show and increase the summer series from 8 to 15 weeks. Upon watching more tapes, the producers then demanded that Simon Cowell perform as a judge in America, emulating the corrosive image that he produced on Pop Idol.
The entrance of Simon Cowell into American Idol is perhaps one of the most influential directions the show ever went in. while Cowell was the star judge of Pop Idol, he was in it mainly to sign the next big singer, and his reputation as a great music producer had no context in America before American Idol. Nevertheless, the producers recognized the energy that he brought to the audience with his criticism and wanted that same reaction. Cowell himself was concerned that he would be censored and that America was too politically correct for his frank assessments. Luckily, the producers gave him space to maneuver. In addition to providing experience to the American Idol Judges, he also brought a sense of gravitas to the table. Since he was the only non-musician of the three judges, and a successful music producer, he was able to justify his intense comments. This not only produced a counterweight to the other judges, but also allowed for audiences to enjoy a thorough dressing down of amateur contestants which became a highlight of the American Idol Experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment