Alas, American Idol doesn't want an artist. They want an entertainer (and in some ways, a puppet that they can control).

can't say I've watched any American Idol since the first season, tho' the reality of it as a media juggernaut is hard to ignore. strikes me as sad that in '04, four times as many people voted for Idol than President.

I also like to think about how, say, Iggy Pop would do on the show. Or Joey Ramone. Or Mick Jagger.

Let's never confuse popularity with merit.

The entry below dated January 5th, 2008, contains accurate information concerning the recent split with Taylor Hicks and J/Arista Records. We have found overwhelmingly since the story surfaced, that the prevailing spin in the media is Taylor Hicks was “dropped” from his contract, a notion that originated with the January 3, 2008 article, by writer Shirley Halperin, titled “Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard dropped from J Records?”

Considering that the dropping scenario conveniently fit in with the prevailing sentiment that American Idol was losing viewership and clout, the press was not interested in elaborating that the split was mutual, as confirmed by both Taylor Hicks and his former record company. As a result, the majority of the subsequent media reports state as fact that Hicks was dropped, effectively convincing readers that an artist who signed a three record contract and sold 500,000 copies of his debut album in the first two weeks (without the benefit of a single or radio play), was unilaterally dumped from his deal, and somehow in the process was convinced not to initiate a breach of contract lawsuit.

Now after this erroneous story has been repeated over and over, the “dropping” it is now taken as a fact. It's just too easy for some to paint Taylor Hicks as the poster boy of a supposedly failed American Idol system. Apparently selling an estimated 800,000 copies of a debut album worldwide without the benefit of top 40 radio play is the new definition of “failure.”

Note on American Idol: For the record, we know the role American Idol played in bringing Taylor Hicks to the general public and the people who now make up his loyal fan base, is tremendous. This is in fact the show that made Taylor Hicks' career. But it is now all too apparent that Taylor Hicks has been virtually eliminated from sight, support, and mention from American Idol. It is widely believed the reason for this excommunication is the fact he was the first Idol winner NOT to sign with 19 Management, effectively cutting off millions in revenue from the company. Show producer Nigel Lythgoe has gone so far to state in two separate interviews that the American Public “got it wrong” by voting for him. To his credit, Taylor Hicks has not responded to these provocative claims.

Reminds me of one of my Dunphy On columns from a couple weeks ago. I kept telling Jeff, Robert and Jason it was good. It was damn good. But no. They blew up my spot for some new guy in a bad wig. Turns out it was Dave Eggers. Bastard! How the hell could I have competed?!

All lies, but you see my point.

Personally, I have no problem with these folks doing whatever they can to achieve their dreams. That's the American way. In the case of Carly Smithson, who had real personality, it would have been a pleasure to see her win. Alas, her tattoos and Irish lilt didn't fit the American Idol image and she was constantly cut down by the judges.

Yes. It's a dawg joke. I've stooped THAT LOW.

They're obviously struggling (and fudging their standards of “unsigned talent”) to come up with a critical mass of decent contestants; I'm guessing that problem's only going to get worse in years to come. Maybe when they get a couple steps higher on the ladder of “ringers,” folks will stop attaching themselves to contestants. More likely, though, we'll come across a Paula scandal of impossible-to-forgive proportions–pre-nup arrangements with a contestant to get a contract win or lose, perhaps, or Paula providing the underage, goody-two-shoes Archuleta with some of whatever she's having.

On a brighter note, I see NBC has taken “Nashville Star” off of cable and onto the network for the summer, so at least they won't have to re-invent the wheel to play copycat. Hike up the cowboy boots…

I also think that the show has become too much a habit for viewers, too cheap to produce and too easy a second-stringer to give up on. Fox never will. They lost their scripted shows in the strike but never lost their precious Idol. And the show had already jumped the shark with Sanjaya-gate, as people tried to manipulate the outcome by, in my view, consciously voting for the least talented participant. That bit of flack should have made a new season unthinkable, but there we are.

But what kind of internal scandal could be big enough to make a difference? Archuleta has been through the talent show gauntlet, including winning Star Search. Cook has been regularly caught nicking rock-style arrangements from other artists and struggling MySpace bands. If you take from the little guys, who'll know the difference? In my mind, these final two are as close to “ringers” as this show has ever come, yet that's somehow acceptable (Carly Smithson certainly fit the ringers bill.) So this season was artificially flavored from the start, and this is somehow what is necessary for “good TV”?

Screw that. Antiques Roadshow is on.