I figured that there stood a good chance of an all country finale on American Idol this year but I've quickly gotten over it and have moved onto bigger and brighter things, like pondering the meaning of what an all country finale means for the show both for next week and beyond. However, more favorably I have already begun, quite sullenly, to contemplate what this all means for the quirkier and quite frankly, far more interesting Top 24 contestants, like James Durbin, Casey Abrams, Hayley Reinhart, Pia Toscano, and even Paul McDonald and Rachel Zevita. There were so many interesting and yet almost vindictively polarizing talents this season that the all out Twitter war that has been cranked up to stupid just the past few weeks alone has become an alarming battle cry for a return to more reasoned sanity between Idol viewers.
I can't help but be philosophical about what, where, and how the divide comes down. Is it geopolitical more than anything? Has it just become way too "I'm A Little Bit Country...I'm A Little Bit Rock" cliche or is it that it divides almost as much down red state/blue state lines as it does just musical taste? More accurately, is that the divide itself? I'd personally vote for the latter. I think. Unless Nigel Lythgoe has some compelling data on tap to counter my spontaneously spouted theorized assertion. Still, I have to imagine that there's at least more than just a grain of truth to that accusation. And I suppose it is just that - an accusation.
The show has been losing its core soul for some time now and I'd always been a very casual viewer up until a few years ago when I started taking it more seriously. However, I tuned back out for the most part sans a couple season finales and so now I have to watch past episodes online on very sketchy and barely reliable sites that clearly play Russian Roulette with your internet security apparatus and yet you still have no choice but to roll the dice if you are as desperate as I am for my pop culture fixes.
And then things changed. I started working for T1V2 Productions and suddenly these shows were also homework as much as anything else. They were research subjects, social marketing lab rats, and the audition and Hollywood rounds became must see television. The departure of Simon Cowell, once deemed as a potentially fatal blow to the show's viability then became a sideshow for me, as Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler were big enough stars in their own right, and my task at hand was now finding the best talent possible to recruit on behalf of T1V2 Productions (or even myself) to sign, cover, promote, or any other combination. Perhaps I'd even get to play with them on an album.
Steven Tyler has endeared me however in a way and realm not previously thought imaginable. He has turned out to be a hip grandfatherly type, albeit without the unconditional tough love to boot, but he has showed a softer side although his obvious flirtations with girls literally young enough to be his granddaughters has been rather unsettling at times but even then it's at least humorous that he can still pass as being young at heart.
And the kindler, more gentler Season 10 has actually produced some more artistically lenient results because of the judging panel restructuring. It's hard to fathom Simon Cowell allowing Casey Abrams, Hayley Reinhart, James Durbin, or even Naima Adedapo or Rachel Zevita the necessary room and space to breathe in order to function as blossoming artists. Does anyone really think that Paul McDonald would have been repeatedly advanced, including to the Top 24 live phase, on Simon's watch much less with any encouragement? Well, technically I can't speak for Simon on what his thoughts on Paul McDonald are or would be but conventional wisdom dictates that he'd probably be a very mixed bag for someone like Simon. He'd probably not love his voice per se but he'd probably respect, even if begrudgingly, his quirky artistry and persona.
And it became impossible for me to not become passionately involved and invested in the show and personal advancement of these candidates. I became far more tolerant of the singers of different tastes and musical appeals than I ever would have if not for my own place in the music industry. How could I rail against any potential meal ticket because of his or her genre(s) just because it didn't jive with my own personal music collection? How disingenuously ungrateful of me would that have been if I were to have immediately shut down when it came to certain singers?
I have been James, Hayley, Casey, and Pia all the way (especially with Rachel, Thia, and Paul's departures) but to say that I haven't grown to really appreciate some of the talents of whom I normally wouldn't rush out to buy - say Karen Rodriguez, Ashton Jones, Jacob Lusk, or Robbie Rosen - would be a very obnoxiously unappreciative sentiment to express about people who have busted their asses to get to where they are right now. And even when the personality divide existed, I never stopped respecting the natural talent of those not particularly my favorite. I started to see pop music and pop culture itself again thru new eyes; a new prism and it was certainly a much needed jolt.
It doesn't mean that I will suddenly embrace most R&B and pop or even country for that matter, but it's more about the singing talent itself again and I can still respect and even enjoy the actual voices of Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina - and I do. I just think that they have a leg up on most of their Top 24 contemporaries. Talented folks like Tim Halperin and Julie Zorrilla were unmercifully cast aside without the American public really having a true say in the matter, so that still very much concerns me, but at least their footing is headed in the right direction. I just question whether or not 19 Entertainment and Interscope have foresight and initiative to make the still necessary adjustments and take things to the next level.
I see a future for all these singers. They are not all created equal in my mind but for the sake of the show itself and the long-term credibility of both singing shows and the music industry itself, let us hope that these shows and their production company labels start getting it right. Let us hope that new alternatives like The X-Factor and The Voice drastically improve upon the preexisting model which is badly damaged and bruised but not necessarily to the point of no return.
It's not too late for Jimmy Iovine, Simon Fuller, and Nigel Lythgoe and company to save their credibility-tarnished brainchild. They smartly snatched up Pia Toscano upon the public outcry to her shocking elimination and even my other favorite underdog Rachel Zevita now has a deal with 19 Entertainment. And that's an encouraging sign. They are investing in their talent these days, perhaps even better than ever before, and with Jimmy Iovine and Interscope at the helm it's not too late for it to be a brand new day and a brand new era. If the show is really about creating stars then it can, should, and must start by making what all these singers do after their season's stint is over relevant and start making who makes it to the finale much more irrelevant or else they will have to find something else to do with their time because everyone watching before dissatisfied with the status quo will certainly find something else to do with theirs.
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