Tonight begins a new season of American Idol. I'll confess to never being much of a fan, but this year looks even more dreadful. I always though Simon and the honesty he brought was the best part of the show.
Truth be told me I am not a fan of mainstream music of any genre. Pretty voices, even prettier faces, all packaged nice and neat. Predictable, boring fluff. And American Idol is simply the breeding ground for the next wave of cute predictable stars.
Growing up, my mom worked at our local civic center so I saw nearly every big concert that came to town. From Liberace to Metallica. Huey Lewis to George Strait. Lights, pyrotechnics ans sequins no longer interest me. I prefer to see a songwriter sit alone upon a plywood stage in some dimly lit bar. I prefer to hear a relatively unknown reveal the inner working of his mind to "big star" strutting around singing lyrics someone else wrote.
A singer that sings songs written almost entirely be others is no more than a karaoke performer in my opinion. The equivalent of someone with a good voice reading aloud stories written by someone else and then receiving kudos, fame, and fortune for being a talented "artist."
I wanna hear a little gravel in that voice. The pain of that lost love. And no I don't care if the tone is "a little pitchy dawg." Sometimes it is that pitchiness that contains to very soul of the song.
Yeah, I do believe I'll skip American Idol. Give me the musical styling of someone like Slaid Cleaves and a cold bottle of Shiner any day.
13 comments:
American Idol! Hate em.... So dude what's happening!
Lana sometimes watches the first few shows with the really horrible singers. I have seen an episode of two with her.
I don't know--being able to sing well is freaking hard. I think people who can do that deserve some accolades, even if they're a crap songwriter.
The two skill-sets are different. Which you favour depends on what you want from your music.
I am also a fan of music. But it depends on the mood. I like every genre.
But some of my fondest memories are my family sitting in the living room, singing songs and playing the guitar. We have a huge musical family, and nothing beats the simplicity of an acoustic guitar, and a voice that loves to sing, just for the sake of singing.
i won't deny that I'll be watching American Idol, though. Even without Simon.
American Idol is my own personal hell. No, thanks. (Sweet for you with your mom's job, though!)
Oh I just like watching the first auditions when all these deluded people sign up thinking they can sing!! And then I cringe and snerk at their awful auditions!! LOL!! But then my sense of humour tends to be a little warped sometimes! LOL! Take care
x
I watched one episode and that was only because the guest wanted to watch it. Never seen it since and have no desire to watch it this season either.
Like you I would rather listen to this guy on constant repeat than one person all made up by Disney or some other outlet for profit and not ability or merit.
What is American Idol? A gun?
American Idol, because all this country needs is another singer who looks and sounds exactly like the one before. No thanks. Give me small and no label bands and keep the radio far, far from me.
I could not agree with you more. I hate when soemone redoes an old song, and then calls it their own AAAAAh.
Thanks for stopping by my blog yesterday.
I hope you have a lovely day!!!
I have no problem with singers and songwriters- what I have a problem with is the titles. Someone who only sings is NOT an artist- he or she is a performer. There is a BIG difference. And while I do think that a singer's performance deserves accolades, I don't like that people give them credit for an "awesome song". The song is the song. The singer is the singer. Some writers sing, some singers write, but not all do both.
I gave it up some time ago - too controlling of my time. There are blogs to write!
"Tom Waits" ;-D
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