Assignment 4-1

Seven years ago, America was hit with a pop culture icon. American Idol first broadcast their talent search in the summer of 2002. Since then an average of 31 million viewers tune in twice and sometimes three nights a week to watch the top vocalists in America vie for a recording contract and the title of American Idol. Over 100 countries now broadcast our famous talent show competition.

Although American Idol is a competition, the contestants are fighting for the votes of the American public. Many times, this can turn into a popularity contest. Who do the fans like better? Are they listening at the song and the voice or are they looking at how cute they are? Does the contestant have a moving story that tugs on the public heartstrings?

Most of you know that until last year there were three judges on American Idol.
* Randy Jackson – Record Producer and Music Manager and guitarist for the group Journey
* Paula Abdul – Pop Signer and choreographer
* Simon Cowell – The least famous, but most popular. Music executive and music manager

Randy is the judge that tells it as he sees it, Paula tends to make comments but smooth them over and Simon is just brutally honest, sometimes even being very harsh to contestants. As of season eight (2009), Kara DioGuardi was added. She is a singer-songwriter and record producer. Although many thought she could add something to the show, I tend to think it bogged the show down as they used more time to generally say the same thing four different ways.

American Idol has four vigorous rounds of auditions and eliminations. First, there are the initial auditions, in a city f the contestant’s choice. They first sing with a group in front of the producers and then if they make the cut they sign in front of Randy, Paula, Simon and Kara. The next round is the Hollywood round. This is where the 100-200 contestants from each city is narrowed down to 24 or 36 contestants. The next few weeks are considered the semi-finals. This is where the show takes a turn. Now the contestants begin performing on live television for the votes from the American audience. Eventually this group becomes the Top 12 or in the case of Season 8, the Top 13.

The top 12 or 13 participate in the “finals.” Individuals are asked to choose songs every week based on a particular theme. Each contestant does so knowing that they are all competing for the same votes. Some four months later the competition is over and someone has been crowned the winner. Whether they have a successful singing career is up to them, but American Idol has opened the door. Some who were eliminated early have had more successful careers than those who have actually one. In fact, two of the season five alums (Chris Daughtry and Kellie Pickler) seem to be having much better careers than Taylor Hicks.

Although reality television has been around for decades, it wasn’t until Survivor and American Idol first came on the in the early 2000’s that America saw an explosion in reality TV. American Idol is not only one of the most popular reality TV shows; it has created stars that have placed their stamp on pop culture.