A couple months ago in this space, I took the opportunity to rip apart “American Idol” for giving false hope to viewers of someday being rich and famous. I’m not finished. One of the biggest problems with the show is its insistence that singing some karaoke tunes on TV is enough to qualify someone as a celebrity.
Undoubtedly, “Idol” served as a springboard for some performers with genuine talent, including Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and most notably Kelly Clarkson, but it is responsible for making people endure Sanjaya, Daughtry (OK, many would argue Daughtry belongs in the talent pool, but this is not a populist column) and that guy with the dreadlocks.
In the aftermath of last season, a cruel twist occurred, resulting in a reversal of fortune for the final two. Kris Allen, a name many probably don’t recall, received more votes than runner-up Adam Lambert. Just to clarify, this means Allen won the title of American Idol and Lambert became the runner-up, as in second place. Meaning he did not win. But Lambert was the one on the cover of “Rolling Stone,” performed on the American Music Awards, appeared on Good Morning America and was interviewed by E!’s hilarious Chelsea Handler. It’s as if people are so troubled or intimidated by even the winner of a karaoke contest being talented, they turn away to avoid confronting the reality of fame going to the victor.
The type of easy celebrity of people without tremendous talent or without putting forth the effort is not confined merely to “Idol.” As a self-confessed entertainment addict, I regularly visit celebrity gossip sites for the latest news and when at the grocery store can’t resist browsing the gossip magazines at the checkout. Lately the editors of these sites and magazines seem to be confused about what makes a celebrity.
For weeks, magazine covers featured people who are only celebrities in the sense they’ve been on TV and people can’t stop covering them. The star of and contestants from “The Bachelor,” Jon and Kate Gosselin, Octomom Nadya Suleman, “The Real Housewives” cast and women who shared Tiger Woods take up the covers and pages of magazines which used to provide news on actual celebrities. On a recent visit to my favorite entertainment site, practically half the stories were about such noncelebrities. It escapes me why these people are so famous, but what they all have in common is a lack of any discernible talent and fell into fame instead of working for it over time.
At some point people became less interested in the career which makes someone a celebrity and more enthused with the lifestyle a celebrity has. Now instead of focusing on an upcoming movie someone is acting in or a new album someone is releasing, journalists focus on the lavish life of a person who is simply in the public eye. It’s not important to mainstream readers Kate Gosselin’s and Octomom’s only talents are delivering kids in bulk. What matters to readers is they have bodyguards, nannies and have killer bodies after babies.
Following celebrity culture is supposed to be a fun distraction from the complexities and stresses of life, and yes, part of the allure of celebrity is the privileged life of a star, but people seem to be demoralized by the requirement of skills and ambition are allowing anyone on a reality show into a star. Which is why Kris Allen is rarely publicized. He upset the system and offended the audience by being more talented in the opinion of most voters and the audience embraced second place.
