Television

American Idol and the Genius of Simon Cowell

When you watch American Idol, the one thing that you have to keep first and foremost in your mind is that this competition is all about show business and money. It's not about making new stars, or entertainment, or amusement, or anything else.  It may accomplish some or all of those things along the way, but that's not what it's all about. Like politics and money, show business is so inextricably connected to money that it is impossible to separate the two.  No one understands this better than Simon Cowell.

The one thing that separates American Idol from all prior talent shows is Simon Cowell.  Look closely at the concept he and the show's creator developed. Scour the countryside for undiscovered singing talent looking for a shot at stardom. Audition them acapella to find out who can really sing and who can't.  Make no mistake about it, during this process he is already deciding who is going to get recording contracts.  Anyone who can sing well without any music or background vocals, and without the benefit of recording studio magic, has tremendous potential and he knows it.  He is looking for the right sound and the right look, and he doesn't need the American public to make that decision for him.

From that point on, the show is for the audience which is brought in to view the actual "competition." I wonder if they know that in Simon's eyes, the real competition is already over.  Remember that he has the finalists under contract which prevents them from signing with anyone else.  So, in effect, it really doesn't matter who the audience selects in the end. Yes, the winner will get a recording contract, but if the person the public selects is not the true winner in his eyes, what do you suppose is going to happen? Would it surprise you to learn that the top three finalists all record the same song BEFORE the eventual winner is even announced?  That way the marketing machine will be in full operating mode to sell the winning recording within just weeks of the final episode.  So, they aren't really worried about who wins, only who can make them the most money.

The trick here is that Simon is obviously smart enough to understand that there is nothing like building a ready-made audience for a future recording star. Throughout the competition, fans are calling in to vote the eventual winner.  This fan base, which grows each week, represents future CD buyers and concert attendees.  They will have an emotional attachment to their favorites that is likely to translate into potential retail sales. Through these votes, Simon is able to get a continuous running gauge of fan support, and he doesn't have to do a thing to get it. Where others often spend huge amounts on marketing surveys, he is receiving all the information he needs through a simple toll-free telephone line.  This is as good as it gets in the marketing business.

The real genius here though is Simon as judge, jury, and executioner.  He takes this talent show where no talent show has ever gone before.  I watched many of them over the years such as Star Search and others of the genre. They often lacked real talent, but what they really lacked was a true protagonist.  A better description might be antagonist or even villain. Every good drama needs at least one and that is what separates this talent search from all others. Simon Cowell is Wily Coyote in disguise, and how entertaining would the Roadrunner have been without him?

If there is anything that Americans love, it is to root for the underdog who doesn't look like he has a chance or prayer of winning anything. When that underdog is under siege by the bad guys, that's when we really rally around the flag. This show provides the perfect setup for this adventure to unfold.  It is no accident that Paula Abdul is on the jury too.  In addition to being the requisite eye-candy for many men, she provides the soothing shoulder to cry on after an all-out assault by Simon. Randy Jackson, who always looks like he wants to take his own poll before casting his vote, is there to go with the flow and provide a swing vote whenever Simon needs it.  Then there is Simon himself, who consistently tells it like it is no matter how painful or embarrassing it may be for the contestants.

As Americans, we have mixed feelings about this process. It is this inner controversy with our own biases that makes this competition so interesting and entertaining.  First, we want the underdog to succeed. Second, we want the best singer to win.  Third, we want our favorite singer to win.  Fourth, we want the judges to be honest and not raise false hopes.  Fifth, when it's all over, we want to be happy and satisfied with the result.  The beauty of this show is that it puts all of those feelings in conflict with each other and the lightening rod for all of this is Simon Cowell.

Anyone who thinks that this is an accident doesn't understand show business. It will succeed the best when it's not obvious to the casual observer. When it became obvious to Paula, she hired a professional writer to come up with one-liners to fire back at Simon during his tyrannical critiques. One of my favorites was the show where she accused the Englishman of being inflicted with "Mad Cowell Disease." All of this just fuels the fire and you can bet your bottom dollar that no one associated with this program is about to do anything to stop it. When you have a villain that you love to hate, you have one of the ingredients that will make people tune in to watch what will happen next.  And with Simon, you really never know for sure what that will be.  Would this show still work without him? Sure, but it would never have stirred up the interest and popularity that it has.

Oddly enough, the ultimate beneficiaries of this will be the finalists, some of whom have previously reaped the ire of Simon the Terrible. If there's one thing I've learned about show business over the years, it's that there's nothing like controversy to attract attention to something that may have gone completely unnoticed without it.  If you even begin to doubt this, examine the career of Madonna, a self-made superstar who would have faded into oblivion were it not for her outside-the-box appearance, attitude, and marketing genius.  The some-scorned finalists will owe Simon a great debt of gratitude for any monetary windfall that comes their way after appearing on this show.  Enough money is likely to make them forget any pain they endured along the way. Besides, show business is a brutal enterprise in and of itself, and there is probably nothing Simon or anyone else could do to really prepare them for that anyway.

If I were younger, I would have taken a shot at stardom on this show.  My four brothers and I have a rock band and we all sing and play different instruments. Like many other good bands, we have dreamed of making it to the big time, but it's a very difficult thing to achieve. A very small percentage do make it, and more often than not it can be attributed to great timing, some talent, and a lot of luck. I know many singers and musicians who are far better than the big name recording artists out there, but the planets were never in the right alignment to give them the break they needed.  Such is life in the real world.

Freelance Writing by Michael Sanibel ^SM —  Freelance Writer