I chose to review an article called “Bad is Good”, which discusses the television talent show American Idol. I remember when American Idol first premiered here in the United States back in 2002 and I really enjoyed watching the show. I would rush home from work trying not to miss an episode, especially in the beginning of each season when you could watch the try outs because there were some pretty bad singers and it was really funny. I would never vote for whom I wanted to win but still had my favorite contestant picked in my head and I would still be disappointed when he or she didn’t win. However, after the show continued year after year I began to lose interest in the rest of the show and would only tune in for the try outs and not watch the rest of the season, but this article appealed to me because the author’s focus was on one of American Idol’s past contestants, Sanjaya Malakar who was extremely popular last season and I had heard a lot about him. The author of the article talks about how Sanjaya was a terrible singer but somehow he continued to progress throughout the show without getting voted off and made it into the top twelve. He questioned whether or not American Idol’s viewers were trying to play some sort of joke because they kept voting for Sanjaya to stay even though he wasn’t a good singer, and he discussed the relationship between pop culture and its audience.
I’m not really sure why Sanjaya was actually allowed to stay for so long on the show and I doubt if it was a joke, but I do believe that the show’s viewers were voting exactly the way they should vote, for whomever they like the most whether the person is a good singer or not. Oftentimes there are many of us that like to root for the underdog in different situations and I think last year’s American Idol season was no different. We can get bored with the same thing all the time and often have short attention spans when it comes to entertainment. Sanjaya staying on the show apparently boosted the ratings and mixed things up just enough to draw additional media attention and also cause more viewers to tune in to watch the show. I agree with the author when he says there is no way to know what will appeal to TV audiences, which is why television executives have to take a chance when they premier a new show and hope for the best that the show will be a success. Television executives will never really be sure what we like because we as an American people have various tastes that can change at the drop of a dime and sometimes we don’t even know until we see it so they will just have to take their chances. In this case bad is good and when it comes to those try outs in the beginning of the show, bad is also really, really, funny.
Reference
Hoppenstand, G. (2007). Bad is Good. Retrieved February 24, 2008, from The Journal of
Popular Culture Volume 40, Issue 4 (August 2007)
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4 comments:
American Idol capitalizes on all of our desire to have 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you like it, we all have to suffer through those people who don't have any reason to be on a singing show.
Sanjaya was a special case, in that he was so bad, that people wanted to root for him. I know that he was supported by websites such as "Vote for the Worst" which pushed and voted for him to stick around. I guess that some of these people felt it would be funny to see someone who stunk make it through.
I am another who does not watch the popular television show. I think it is the same thing over and over again. I did however watch a few shows with Sanjaya in it. Personally I liked him but I cannot tell you a reason why. It was not because he was the best singer, but maybe because of his appearance and that Simon got so mad when Sanjaya stayed. I thought it was great to see Simon get mad.
I enjoyed you article and I think that you analysis is pretty good. You have points about Sanjaya and how people reacted.
I am an American Idol watcher I used to watch it every night it was on now I don't I think the show is really to predictable. The people who vote go by what the judges say. The article is well written and flows well I think.
Sanjaya was really a bad singer and I have to admit I voted for him just for entertainment each week. There was a group of about 50 people I work with would vote for him every week. There were posters all of the shop vote for Sanjaya.
I have never really like American Idol. I do not see the point in all of these talent searches. If some is meant to be famous they will find a way to do this. We do not need all of these reality television shows. I have watched the show a couple of times but as you have come to recently, only for the first episodes when they are traveling across America.
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