American Idol – the Death Star?
As millions of people laugh at Ian , riducule Paula and debate whether Chris Sligh should go to Hollywood, whether he looks like Jack Osbourne, and if he can really make David Hasselhoff cry - there’s a few folks not laughing.
Rival television executives are now referring to Fox’s “American Idol” as the death star as their programs wilt by comparison. Have a look at last weeks Neilson Ratings;
FOX: American Idol : 33.87 million viewers
NBC: Friday Night Lights : 5.7 million
CBS: Armed & Famous : 4.2 million
ABC: Knights of Prosperity : 3.6 million viewers
There’s a marketing lesson there. If you do #1 well – really well – #2 is really, really far away. You get to #1 by giving people what they respond to… which is not necessarily the same as what they ask for.
So… who do you think is better… Chris Sligh or Sundance Head?
fracas said,
January 31, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Sundance Head.
That’s the thing about American Idol. I caught a few seconds of the two guys from the other week.. the one Simon called a Bush Baby and the other guy, singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” on CNN and I had a new thought.
Suppose the GOAL of calling someone a Bush Baby or Big Bird (last night’s fare) is because we KNOW it will mean the public outcry guarantees they get to be a “William Hung” type celebrity. So in fact, while the public calls the judges names, boo, hisses and all, the judges might very well be having the last laugh because their (deliberate) calling down of someone has in fact, created a “star” where otherwise the public would’ve questioned the sanity of the judges for including the person in the actual competition.
Perhaps that’s the real intention and the public has been played like a banjo?
After all, I’ve read that William Hung has made nearly a million dollars to date.
So yes.. I’d agree that when you know what the public responds to, you know that your #1 is going to be that far ahead of anyone else’s #2. That’s why I continue to go to bat on Simon’s defense. I think Simon just knows how to give the public what they want… including an underdog celebrity to rally up and support.
We should all be that smart.