Appealingly unpretentious
For all of Fox’s promotional bombast and the creator’s smug assumptions, the show itself has turned out to be appealingly unpretentious in its update of the age-old talent competition format, very entertaining and sometimes dramatic to watch, and its slowly unfolding winnowing process creates a strong dramatic arc as viewers get to know and identify with the young (16-25) contestants as they survive the ax one more week, or perform a farewell swan song over the closing credits, as did 17 year-old Hawaiian Jasmine Trias last week, setting the stage for this week’s showdown between Barrino and DeGarmo.
Giving viewers the vote on finalists and the ultimate winner has encouraged audience investment in the contestants, and having viewers vote to keep their favorites on the show keeps the process positive rather than punitive. Despite sharp-tongued judge Simon Cowell’s reputation for verbal cruelty, he’s really just honest, upholding his vision of the show’s integrity. (Okay, so sneered adjectives like “pathetic,” “tragic,” “abysmal” and “malodorous” may go a tad beyond the bounds of descriptive necessity, but why not work on the old vocabulary while he’s at it?)
The reality on the ground is that the show is very respectful of its contestants (at least once they are out of the preliminary rounds — the show does revel in the awfulness of the worst auditioners, but such is the penetration of the show into American culture that the worst of the worst, William Hung, has become a novelty success in his own right), seeks to present them in the best possible light, and sends them off with warmth and regret (before bringing them back for the 52-show live summer tour, of course, and guest appearances on subsequent shows when their records come out, and…).....
Please click over for further rumination.
Lastly, while I admire, enjoy, like, and wish nothing but the best to many of the other contestants from this and previous seasons, Fantasia is the only one I love, and I don't say this lightly.
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Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
i hope Fantasia sticks to material with a fair amount of blues in it....because she friggin' smoked on "Summertime".
2 - Bob A. Booey
Olsen:
Thanks for the nice comments. I hate to encourage the Simon Jr comparisons, so I'll just contest 2 points you made:
First, the outcome was very important for Diana. Fantasia had her deal with Clive Davis already. I don't think Diana will have the opportunities Clay was afforded because of her age, image, and the type of music she would sing. Clay was different, equally talented to Ruben, and lost by a tiny margin. Diana herself only lost by 1% but that wasn't mentioned on the final results show (only on the "Seacrest Out" talk show On-Air Live). You don't get the sense that Simon and BMG or Clive and Arista are going to sign Diana and invest money in promoting her. If she had won, they would have been obligated to by the rules of the show but I have a feeling Fantasia would still have gotten the brunt of their marketing push. Hopefully she gets other opportunities.
Second, the last thing you can fault Fantasia for is song choice. The judges commented repeatedly on how she was the best in the competition at picking diverse songs that suited her well -- the one HUGE exception turned out to be "All My Life," which almost cost her the competition. Fantasia's voice has a little gravel and waver to it, which makes her vulnerable and emotional. I like that her voice is unusual, personally, but I can understand where others find it cacaphonous.
Finally, I agree with one part of the MSNBC article. The show is in many ways a throwback dressed up in hipper imaging and I think that's why it has such broad appeal.
That is all.
3 - Kayla Phelps
I love Fantasia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!