Critics fear originality 'casualty' of new Idol world; finalists riding wave
TORONTO (CP) - Billy Klippert was as much a critic of the TV reality star-making process as anyone else before he got involved.
"Initially I never even wanted to go on the show," he said of auditioning for Canadian Idol's first season. "My sister waited in line. I still wasn't going to go. Then a huge snow storm started and I felt bad so I said 'Fine Heather, I'll do it.' "
And although he didn't make it to No. 1, the Calgarian has managed to spin a career out of the free advertising provided by Canadian Idol's highly rated TV vocal competition. His solo record is doing well for a beginner (he's sold more than 20,000), and he's got a national tour planned for next month.
He says it reflects the new music industry - one which doesn't invest money to develop new artists but would rather sign people that come with pre-established marketing campaigns.
This scares critics who say the cookie cutter approach is killing any ounce of originality left in the star search process.
An aspiring rocker, Klippert was aiming to record a CD when he auditioned for the TV show.
"I would have pursued it but it's pretty tough to get a record deal because there's just not enough CDs selling," he said from Toronto, which he calls home now. "It's the only way I know of getting a record deal. These talent shows give you a ton of exposure before you even get anywhere."
And he's not the only one to have benefited from the Idol monster.
Some others:
-Audrey de Montigny, of Ste-Julienne, Que., placed fourth. Months later she released a record which debuted and remained at No. 1 on the French music charts for 11 weeks. Now she's got an English track, I Keep Crying, that's receiving airplay across the country.
-Jenny Gear, who came in fifth, formed a band with the Whiskey Kittens. A CD release party for Jenny Gear and The Whiskey Kittens is planned for Sunday in St. John's, Nfld.
-Runnerup Gary Beals and sixth place finalist Toya Alexis got deals from judge Farley Flex's company Plasma Corporation. Beals released a record in August. Alexis is in the studio now and plans to release her debut record in early 2005.
-Non-Idol Matt Dusk's record sales spiked after he performed a couple of songs during a crooner theme show this summer. The Toronto singer went from No. 63 on Soundscan charts to No. 19 the post-Idol week.
It seems anything that Idol touches turns to gold immediately. The top three singles in the U.S. this week are by American Idol singers. Even the rejects get their own one-hour special extending their 15-minutes of non-deserved fame.
"It was an amazing experience," said Thomas Cho, a high school student from Ottawa who tortured A Whole New World on the show. "It will help me in the future. It might give me a first step in an entertainment career."
These types of reality show are indicative of the old "train wreck" metaphor, explains Andrew Scott, who teaches pop music history at the University of Western Ontario in London.
"They do well because we're such a voyeuristic society," he said. "On some level we see ourselves on that Idol stage. It's very different if you're watching Barbra Streisand or a Johnny Mathis or Prince perform or looking at Beyonce."
He fears that while some of these manufactured singers may see immediate sales, on the whole they'll represent a mere blip in the bigger picture.
"If you look back 30 years, you remember the musical innovators, the original voices much more than you would remember the competent singers," he said adding that after initial success, nobody listens any more to Pat Boone's version of Tutti Frutti because Little Richard's is more unique.
"Music originality may be one of the unfortunate casualties of shows like this," said Scott.
Flex, who owns his own artist management company and is a judge on the show, agrees that longterm success for Idol competitors will depend on creativity.
"Everybody who votes isn't everybody who will buy a record. If those things were synonymous then yeah, everything Idol turns to gold and platinum. I just don't think that's the case," he said.
Runnerup Beals wasn't offered a single record deal once his contractual obligation with Idol and its affiliates ran out, said Flex. So he added the East Coast singer to his Plasma Corp. roster because he saw longterm potential.
He prefers to call the Idol franchise a supplement to the music industry, like Telefilm is for filmmakers.
"I'm hoping this show becomes a complement or supplement to what's happening in the business. What Telefilm is for the film industry in Canada, Idol can be for music in terms of discovering talent, giving them a launching pad. Instead of funding for a record, they get the promotional part of it."
Canada's proximity to the United States makes such a process integral to the vibrancy of our music industry, added Flex.
"The show is more relevant here than any other territory," he said. "If you walk into a record store, what do you see on the shelves? You see more U.S. product than you do Canadian."
(Source: http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=ccb82e1f-9be9-4c9b-86db-bfb37b7f1f76)
