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— by Corey Moss
The fourth season of "American Idol" kicks off this week, which means that in a month or so, after all the rejects are eliminated or made oddly famous, the debates will start.
Classmates, co-workers and chat-room regulars around the country will wage war over that performance of "I Will Always Love You" (over-sung or star-making?), that dress (hideous or imaginative?), those dance moves (embarrassing or charming?), etc.
The Simon haters will lash out at the Simon lovers, grandmas will rush to the defense of the sweet schoolboy with a heart of gold, and teenage girls will thoroughly discuss Ryan Seacrest's hair now vs. season two.
And then, of course, there's the actual matter of who will win, who should win and who should've won but was voted off three weeks ago because the phone lines were down in Peoria.
Week in and week out, "Idol" is a factory for debate fodder, so it makes sense that the show itself has triggered one of the most divisive ongoing debates in the music industry: Is "American Idol" hurting or helping the state of popular music today?
Ask artists or executives, producers or journalists, and the answers will vary widely. Some love it (although the words "guilty pleasure" are often used), some hate it, and some are still debating in their own minds whether this pop-culture phenomenon is the beginning or the end of music as we know it.
At a time when "Idol" and "Idol" knockoffs are the only primetime shows centered around music, the loudest argument in support of "Idol" is that it's giving music some much-needed attention.
"More exposure for music is always better," said Artemis Records CEO Danny Goldberg, an industry veteran who once supervised the music for a different primetime hit, "Miami Vice." " 'American Idol' has created a new audience for a new generation of pop music. I don't think it subtracts from any other genres, but just makes the pie bigger."
" 'American Idol' has opened the world of music to millions, if not billions, of households," added Damon Elliott, a producer who has worked with Destiny's Child and Jessica Simpson, among others.
Supporters also contend that the concept behind "Idol," with America choosing a singer to win a record contract, brings a welcome balance to an industry where a handful of A&R execs (mostly older men) pick the artists we hear on the radio and see on TV.
When Kelly Clarkson tried out for the first season, she had just moved back to Dallas after failing to drum up any interest in Los Angeles. Given that neither Ruben Studdard nor Clay Aiken looks much like Usher or Justin Timberlake, they probably would've had the same fate. And J Records founder Clive Davis said Fantasia would never have been discovered if not for "Idol."
"It's taken A&R to a whole new level," Elliott said. "It's given normal everyday people a chance to pursue their dreams."
"If a girl like Kelly Clarkson can be found, or even if Fantasia or Diana [DeGarmo], who have no access to the industry, can come up and touch people, then that's great," said songwriter and producer Kara DioGuardi, who has worked with Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and several of the "Idols." "It's great for kids to see that dreams can come true. You don't have to be with the best lawyer or the best agent."
Alonzo "Zo" Lee of the St. Louis-based production duo the TrakStarz, best known for discovering Chingy, believes "Idol" proves to A&R execs that talented, marketable singers are not exclusive to Los Angeles, New York or other big cities.
"It's showing there's hidden talent everywhere," he said. "If we actually took the time, look what we could find."
Of course, "American Idol" also found William Hung. And let's not forget Justin Guarini (although the show's producers would like to), who released a sales clunker after almost winning the first season.
Actually, since Aiken's Measure of a Man (the biggest "Idol" seller with a 613,000-copy debut week and 2.7 million total units sold), sales of "Idol" albums have decreased drastically. Studdard's new gospel album, I Need an Angel, sold 96,000 copies its first week, compared to 417,000 for his debut, and even Clarkson's second album sold 47,000 fewer than her first when it hit the chart. Fantasia debuted selling 240,000 copies of Free Yourself, well below Studdard and Aiken's first-week numbers the year before, and DeGarmo's Blue Skies sold just 47,000 copies, 10,000 below the opening-week sales of Guarini.
So perhaps America is not so great at picking superstars.
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Photo: Getty Images
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