Franchise: American Idol

American Idol is a reality television show that seeks to find America’s next pop sensation. After a rigorous cross-country audition process that attempts to find a diverse group of talented voices, contestants on the show compete against each other each week to gain the most votes from the viewers who vote for their favorite performance from the week before. The contestant with the least amount of votes is eliminated from the show, and out of the running for a cash prize and record contract. Inspired by a British television show from 2001 called Pop Idol, the American Idol program and subsequent franchise was developed by the Fox Network and producer Simon Fuller and Cecil Frot-Coutaz in 2002. Since then, American Idol has become an Emmy award winner and an international phenomenon. Not only is it broadcast in Australia, Asia, and Latin America, countless nations across the globe have joined the franchise developing their own versions of “Idol.” In Germany the show is called Deutschland sucht den Superstar. South America and Mexico recently came together to create Latin American Idol marking the first time the franchise has crossed national borders bringing together an entire region. In the Philippines the show is called Pinoy Idol, and links all the Philippine Islands together in one program. But does a Franchise like the Idol franchise bring people from around the world together? Or does it work to homogenize and indoctrinate the world with Western ideologies? Good or bad, the Idol franchise is just another step in globalization and the world wide obsession with interacative media and technology.

Personalized technology is taking over people’s lives all across the globe; the Internet, X-box, i-phones, Blackberries. We now can perfectly tailor everything just for us, and our entertainment is increasingly interactive. According to Michael Keane and Albert Moran in their essay Television’s New Engines, this obsession with being involved in our own media has caused television networks to create new engines that will involve and inspire viewers, and because the personalized technology phenomenon is world wide, the new engines tend to spread through franchises like the Idol franchise.

Keane and Moran say included in this engine format is the concept of “voting off.” They state, “The voting off engine in turn plays off in-built conflict, often carefully integrated into the mix in the contestant selection stage” (Keane and Moran, 160). “Voting off” allows viewers to feel as if the show is being catered to them and makes them feel that “their” idol is uniquely their/ their nation’s own. In the early audition processes the show generally goes from city to city doing casting calls. Before each of these episodes there are always shots from around the city, giving viewers a tour of different parts of their country. This makes it difficult to not see the show as uniquely Philippine, German or American.

Despite this feeling of national pride the concept of Idol evokes, it is impossible not to see the homogeny that comes along with it. Indeed the contestants are all the viewers’ fellow countrymen from the places they live and recognize, however the format of the show is exactly the same from nation to nation, and most often contestants are required to sing songs made famous by Americans in America. For example, in the aforementioned mass audition sequences, contestants all attempt to sing American songs in English, and for each country the way the audition process is captured is exactly the same. The long line of hopefuls is seen cheering, the attractive host interviews potential contestants who are either praised or disparaged by the three judges, and of course there is always someone who makes a fool out of him or herself.

Here are images from Idol casting calls in Germany, The Philippines, and the U.S.

There is no argument that the homogenization of pop music and media around the globe has been happening for years, and whether or not Idol alone squelches a country’s local sound and color is difficult to say. However, there is no doubt that behind all the corporate (for lack of a better word) B.S., there is something positive about giving people a voice in their nation’s mass media. In her article from Newsweek Lorraine Alli says of the Idol franchise, “In places where the concept of democracy is still shaky, “Idol” lets viewers have the vote” (Alli). This above all, is the core reason for Idol’s success as a franchise. It allows people to feel connected to not only their fellow countrymen, but it also provides a global connection and a hopeful glimpse at a positive global future.

Sources:

Keane, Michael and Albert Moran. “Television’s New Engines.” Television and New

Media. 9.2 (2008): 155-169.

“American Idol.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Inc. 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Idol October 19, 2009.

Ali, Lorraine. “True or False: ‘Idol’ Airs on Every Continent but Antarctica.” Newsweek.

July 2-9, 2007. 67.

Pinoy Idol. Fremantle Media. 2008. http://www.igma.tv/pinoyidol/videos/auditions/1

American Idol. Fremantle Media, Fox. http://www.americanidol.com/

Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Fremantle Media. 2009.

http://www.rtl.de/tv/superstar.php.