Why I Do Not Watch American Idol

Ok, so I'm a social retard. I do not watch this show, like millions of other people do (maybe some of you). I have caught glimpses of it, 5 minutes here and there and of course have seen all the commercials - but I have not watched an episode all the way through. People (co-workers, parents of my students, etc.) assume since I am a musician that this would be a show I would really be into. But I refuse to support this program, and have several valid reasons which I think supercede any entertanment value the show might have.

1. As I mentioned in my previous comment to Jeff's post Music Theory Discussion, the music industry already controls so much of what we as Americans get to hear. The public gets to "vote" on A.I. for which singers they like best, but... the choices are already narrowed down to a select few that the judges think are "the cream of the crop", and frankly they all sing with pretty similar vocal style. Singers such as John Lennon, Robert Plant, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Freddy Mercury, Sting, Kurt Kobain, Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler, Neil Young, David Bowie, Roger Waters, Stevie Nicks, even swing or jazz singers like Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, etc. who have/had very unique vocal styles and who were known for other reasons such as their expressiveness/soulfulness/phrasing and/or their song writing abilities, would have been left out of the running. Regardless of how you feel about any/all of these musicians (there are a few that I personally am not nuts about myself, or at least not about their music), where would American music history be today if people like Simon Cowell (who, in a 60 Minutes inteview I heard of him, freely admits he knows absolutely nothing about music) were the only ones who got do decide what we hear in the first place? Maybe there's somebody else out there who has a really unique style and has something new to say, that Americans never get to hear because Simon et. al decide that's not what Americans want to hear? Should we let these frauds be making our choices for us?

2. The whole attitude promoted by A.I., that only "the best" are worth hearing, is a very upsetting attitude to me as a music educator. Educational and musical research has shown that EVERYONE is musical to some extent, and that all people, unless they have a severe vocal disability, can learn to sing and improve their singing and musical abilities with enough and the right types of experiences. Now, TV and society (big influences in children's lives) is telling kids and adults that only a select few are worth hearing, and if you're not one of the select, you may as well not even try because you're going to be shot down and made fun of for entertainment's sake. Some of the people who are ridiculed may actually have some potential, if they get some more training or practice more. And there are probably hundreds or even thousands more that we don't ever get to see (because they weren't funny enough to put on the show, or they weren't good enough to be top finalists) who might be great and have lots of potential, but the show doesn't focus on those people. I think the show sets a horrible example for children as far as what is musical and who can be musical. A hundred years ago, music was something that we all owned. People sang, played guitar, fiddle, piano, etc. sitting around their houses to entertain themselves and their family. Some people had lessons, some people taught themselves. They did it because they enjoyed making music, not because they wanted to impress people or become famous. Today, a handful of people are musicians and the rest are consumers of music. If this attitude existed a century ago, then there would be NO FOLK MUSIC. NO BLUES. NO JAZZ. NO ROCK AND ROLL All these styles of music were begun by people who played and sang just for the hell of it, because they had something to say and they didn't care who heard it - and or course they got better because they kept playing/singing. Music should still belong to the people, not to the industry. I don't want some show telling my students and their parents that they shouldn't bother making music because they currently don't happen to be the best in America.

3. Art and taste/opinion in art is subjective and should not be voted for or ranked. We shouldn't need a scoring system to tell us what is good or bad, we should be able to make those choices on our own. I think that the idea of voting for one musician (or any other type of artist) over another - and then, if the one you voted for wins, it validates your opinion - actually interferes with the process of Americans developing their own musical tastes. You might like something, but... well, it lost, so your opinion was WRONG because the majority doesn't agree with you. It's fine to like one thing over another - that's part of what makes us unique as people - but IMHO to have a VOTE on something subjective like this is just wrong. A lot of artists weren't appreciated in their own lifetimes - people's tastes change, and YOUR OPINION, if it's different from others', may be ahead of its time. If we place too much emphasis on what is popular now, then music and art will never go anywhere. It's not a valid indicator of what is actually good, it's a popularliry contest. What if we had American Idol in the 40's and early 50's? We'd probably never get to hear any rock and roll, we'd probably all still be listening to Perry Como and Bing Crosby. How about in the 1800's? Minstrel show music was really popular back then all over the US!!!!! So, if racism and cultural sterotype is popular, should we vote on that too and give it cultural validation when it wins?

I could say more but I think I've made my point. American Idol is limiting the music industry and is stunting Americans' musical growth.