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American Idol Breeds Success and ControversyCopyright © 2007-2009 Trent LampeDuring the early days of 2002, the only people who had ever heard of the American Idol were the numerous television executives who had decided that this show had no future. Can you imagine what it would be like to be one of the television executives that had decided to take a pass on American Idol? Can you imagine what it must feel like every time they see someone on T.V. talking about American Idol? Wow! That would bite. Introducing The Stars Of The Show... American Idols' host and star judges were known in certain circles, but only Paula Abdul had been a household name around the world. Abdul has a string of hit songs in the late 1980's and 1990's. Abdul had actually begun her dance and choreography career in 1983, when she won a position on the Los Angeles Lakers' cheerleading squad. Within a few weeks of taking that position, she was made the head choreographer for the squad. A year later, Abdul began choreographing music videos, and that eventually led to her place as a pop music icon. Host Ryan Seacrest began his career in 1990 at the age of 16. Seacrest hosted a number of radio shows, television shows, and game shows. In 2002, he had co-hosted Idol with Brian Dunkleman. After the first season had concluded, Seacrest became the sole host of American Idol. He has since spun his Idol fame into other projects that have helped to cement his position as a power player in the American music industry. Randy Jackson has worked as a session musician since the early 1980's for a who's who list of American pop bands. His credits are far too numerous to list here, but some of the names he supported include Journey in 1983, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, and The Charlie Daniels Band. Jackson eventually produced bands and worked his way into the executive management of major record labels. He served eight years at Columbia as Vice President of Artists and Repertoire (A&R) and four years at MCA Records as the President of the A&R division. It could be argued that Simon Cowell is the real star of the American Idol. Cowell had a lengthy career in the pop music industry in the UK. He began his career during the early 1980's as an assistant in the A&R division of the UK division of the EMI record company. He worked his way up to record producer, and then broke away to form his own record company. His record label did not survive for long. Cowell returned to EMI, before striking out on his own once again. Cowell's second label enjoyed some success, but it failed when its parent record company failed. At this point, Cowell became an A&R consultant for Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Eventually, Cowell got another shot at success, developing Syco Records in 2002. Syco later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG. Today, Cowell is a judge on American Idol and the producer of several hit television shows. Looking Back At The American Idol's Phenomenal Success Aired by the Fox Broadcasting Company, American Idol was introduced as a summer replacement television show in June of 2002. Although Fox had enough faith in the program to give it airtime, Fox apparently did not have high hopes for this music talent show. The show was introduced to the summer lineup with very little advertising and fanfare. Word-of-mouth launched Idol's ratings into the heavens. By season one's finale in September of 2002; 50 million viewers had tuned in to see Kelly Clarkson win a recording contract. Clarkson's first single set a record for the fastest climb up the Billboard Charts moving from #52 to #1 in just one week. Her first album "Thankful" met commercial success in North America, but did not get much traction anywhere else. Clarkson's second album "Breakaway" was a global success and earned two Grammy Award's in 2006. Season two's finale episode was marked by controversy when Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner over Clay Aiken by fewer than 130,000 votes of the 24 million votes cast. Part of the Idol phenomenon is that the public is invited to vote for the person they think should be the next Idol. During the finale of season two, the telephone communications systems broke under the abnormally high load of phone calls. Many people still question the accuracy of voting results, recorded for season two. With 65 million votes cast, Fantasia Barrino, later known as just Fantasia, won season three. Season three could not avoid the controversy that season two brought to the surface. Many people began to openly question the voting process. Complaints were aired in the public forum suggesting that people who should have been propelled forward were voted off the show, and that people who should have been cut early went on to participate in later rounds. Jennifer Hudson was one who was cut early in the process; yet she went on to appear in the feature film and musical Dreamgirls, winning Hudson a Golden Globe and getting her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The Dreamgirls soundtrack also included a song performed by Hudson, and the soundtrack reached #1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. Season four helped launch country singer Carrie Underwood and record sales. Underwood's debut album "Some Hearts" peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts and has sold more than five million copies to date. Eight of the twelve season four finalists have gone on to gain recording contracts and roles on television and in movies. Season four was rocked by Corey Clark, a contestant from season two, who claimed a relationship with judge Paula Abdul while he was still a contestant on the show. Fox Entertainment completed an investigation and decided that the accusations did not merit the termination of Abdul as a judge on American Idol. 63.5 million votes were cast in the final show of season five. Taylor Hicks took the top honors. Season five was not without its own controversies, although those were mild in comparison to the controversies of previous seasons. Behind The Scenes and Controversies Of American Idol As season six is getting underway, Crystal Entertainment has released a DVD titled "American Idol Unauthorized." Unauthorized is a behind-the-scenes look at the American Idol competition, which shares the good, bad and ugly of the Idol production process. Within their DVD, Crystal Entertainment conducted in-depth interviews with former Idol contestants and received expert commentary from Hollywood and pop music insiders. American Idol Unauthorized is best watched among friends and family. It will literally generate hours of entertaining conversation and debate among those who have the chance to see it together. Contrary to what you might think, it is not necessary to be a fan of American Idol in order to be entertained by this documentary. When we gathered to view the video, two of our clan had seen every season and two had never seen American Idol at all. All four of us were entertained and educated by the insights delivered by American Idol Unauthorized. American Idol Unauthorized is available for purchase for $19.98 at http://www.americanidolunauthorized.com/ ?source=phanwrite1&gad=COrlxMICEghxQKVjqC-G0xiqga35AyD6rtkb About The Author:
*** Digital Reprint Rights *** *** Author Notification *** We ask that you notify the author of publication of his or her work. Trent Lampe can be reached at: trent.lampe@thephantomwriters.com *** Print Publication Reprint Rights *** If you desire to publish this article in a PRINT publication, you must contact the author directly for Print Permission at: trent.lampe@thephantomwriters.com
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