I have never watched American Idol but it still pisses me off. Eight seasons past and people are still strung up on the American Idol bandwagon. I just don't get it. Even though the ratings have wavered a bit, it's still the number one show on TV. Yet, every year, fans cry foul over different voting snafus and "shocking" finales.
What's my point here? Why do fans keep coming back? Every season, they cry foul about busy lines, vote-fixing, producer manipulation, outside manipulation. FIVE out of the SEVEN (soon to be 6 out of 8) seasons, the winner not just goes on to disappoint but goes on to be a HUGE let down. How can hundreds of thousands of people vote for a winner yet not have any interest in buying their CDs or songs?
My thought? The winner is roped into a contract where they must record at 19 Entertainment's affiliates, sign to their label and be managed by them. So, why not rope the one more in? Aside from Daughtry who fought the system, all the other runner-ups and almost winners signed to 19 Entertainment anyway (when wanted). So, the winner gets $500k and a one album deal. The runner-ups? This seasons shouldawon, Adam Lambert, can be signed to anything they want and, most likely, will sign to anything as he is hungry for a career. So, instead of signing the more talented artist to a high end one album deal, they can rope him into a multi-album deal for much less money to the tune of $200k. Not only are they paying less, but they get more talent and more albums out of it. And the $500k for the winner? Who cares when the production costs on the show are so low, most reality shows like Survivor giveaway more than that anyway, it's a write off. And, as dumping winners like Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard and even Kelly Clarkson has shown, it doesn't really phase them much anyway.
PS-This season also started to run long, interrupting other shows like Hell's Kitchen, cutting off the ending for those that use DVRs. After 7 years, they forgot how to plan the show properly?
--This is just the personal opinion of writer Peter Oberth, not an accusation or opinion of Shakefire.com as a whole.