The Movie Corner

Posts Tagged ‘american idol’

The history of free TV shows is actually the history of television itself in perspective. For the last 75 years or so, television had developed into something not foreseen by its supporters during its formative years before.

For one, the business of making people watch free TV shows had transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry (more than billion as of last count) in the U.S. alone. And consciously or otherwise, television had become a touchstone of popular culture it had helped spawn through, news, education, entertainment and actual events, sports, politics and many other facets of modern life.

Beginnings

Since the first public demonstration in August 25, 1934 of the all-electronic TV system in Philadelphia by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, it took only a little over a decade or so (the 50s) for television to grasp the extent of its economics. Almost of their revenues would come from the advertisers.

By late 1950s, live TV was out and most of the series were filmed. One big advantage of filmed TV shows would be the possibility of a rerun or syndication for re-airing at some future time (which means more income). During this time, too, westerns and detective dramas were in vogue and were top-raters.

In the 60s, newscasts were lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes. Although ratings for newscasts didn't equal those of the other free TV shows (notably the entertainment sector), they earned sufficient viewers to pull in advertisers and earn their keep.

It was also at around this time that formats for the news were changed. There came other flashier features - show business news, sports, and spectacular news like fires and crimes - incorporated into the mainstream body of news reports.

By the 80s, cable stations like CNN, ESPN, MTV and many others entered into the mainstream TV industry. Commercial TV boomed. By the nineties, almost seventy percent of homes had cable. However, viewer preferences were outstandingly narrow. Nickelodeon shows and several sports programs led the ratings.

With the entry of cable, the networks changed their strategies in presenting the news, as we have noted. But the huge change would be in the free shows and other entertainment programs. These shows would re-invent themselves and become more daring and audacious.

The Fox Network, established in 1986 and owned by Australian Rupert Murdoch, was the most enthusiastic of all the networks in welcoming these new loose trends in programming. Some of their comedies, action and drama series, and some reality shows crossed the boundaries of good taste. This was also in time with the relaxation of federal regulations in broadcasting.

The other networks did their own innovations along with the actual trends and tastes pervading among the viewers, especially those who patronize the free shows. The old standards are still making headlines and money (series on hospitals, police procedurals, family dramas).

However, the old action and adventure segments have branched out into areas that weren't heard of before, or too fantastic to imagine. At the moment, reality shows and other hybrid shows (American Idol, Dancing With The Stars) lord it over the current ratings.

The 21st century

Today, every country in the world has at least one television channel. This had enabled them to share their own culture with the rest of the globe's population, and vice-versa. One example was the huge celebration in every continent in connection with the onset of the new millennium. It fulfilled an old goal of bringing the world together into one global village, in real time.

With the expected convergence of the computer and television in the near future, there may be more changes in the viewing habits of people as well as the changes in the sources of news and information and how they're to be disseminated.

For followers and viewers of free TV shows, what could be more exciting?

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Advanced talent shows such as X Factor have been on our screens for almost a decade now. Over this moment we have seen stars be made and then thrown out into the bin like they vanished. Yes the world of pop and stardom is a million dollar industry that just will not stand for people that are not making the money.

These shows let the public decide who will come out the most victorious by calling at a charge. If you are an avid viewer and voter you can imagine the bill that will come to your home at the end of the month and even the end of the series, you could be paying a fortune for ringing a reality tv shows phone number.

I am sure these shows earn enough money to offer 0800 number voting procedures to viewers, but will this work for such a format? Or will it end up a bad mess; let us quickly look over the good and negatives of both.

Positives:
1) It will allow contestants to garner more votes as people will not hesitate in calling
2) The episodes would get a lot more coverage as they are showing a more sensitive side to themselves.

Negatives
Now let us turn our minds to the negative aspects of implementing a freephone number.

1) There will be enourmous amounts of multiple voting which will result in system failure.
2) We all know some people do the sympathy vote, this will get a lot worse due to people constantly dialling.

So looking above you can see that the bad triumphs over the good. But for any other niche, such as client relations there will be a huge amount of good effects compared to the bad and it is definitely something each and every company should be considering.

To be completely honest I’m one of those people who has a really hard time getting into Idol. I remember when it first started and I was so surprised by the show thinking that it would be a flop. When the second season rolled around I realized I couldn’t be more wrong. Every year the show seems to get bigger, and more copycat shows come out like Dancing with the Stars. I lament the good old days of shows like Saved By The Bell.

Now 7 seasons later and it’s bigger than ever. It’s a very coveted time slot for advertisers to get their products in since it’s audience runs the gamut from teens to grandmas.I have to admit though that this season may end up being a guilty pleasure. I can’t even pry my girlfriend away from the TV when the show is on, and once I start watching something I generally have a hard time stopping.

I love see watching the beginning shows for the awful performances of wanna be idols. I don’t even believe that the really bad people are even legitimate, they just want to get 15 minuets in the spotlight. There are a few really talented people on this season including Michael Castro and Von Smith.

Although I do think there have been a lot of talented people who have been discovered on the show, I feel the premise of the show kind of sucks. There are so many talented musicians out there trying to make it and they can’t even get record contracts, but here these so called “idols” are getting everything handed to them.  With a few exceptions, most of the winners turn out to be a one hit wonder. But this could be it, my season to fall in love with this natural phenomena, I just hope it doesn’t cut into my sleep too much.

2008 has been a bittersweet year for Jennifer Hudson.  But of course, we all know that already. When Hudson released Spotlight (her first album) to high praise, not to mention her Oscar win, really shows us that she is on a great roll.Tragically, after her success her mom, brother, and nephew were murdered by her sister-in-law when she went on a rampage, a hit that could have destroyed the performers life, let alone career.She hasn’t been in the spotlight as much afterwards, rather preferring to grieve privately with family.

But there’s always the comeback, in the tradition of many who went through American Idol 8.In the history of American Idol a TON of past contestants have faded into near obscurity only to have a major comeback into the spotlight again.  Hudson, of course, is one of those stories, and there’s no doubt that she’ll do the same this year, right?

For a moment, we thought it wouldn’t have come any sooner.  On New Year’s Eve, the New York Post reported that Hudson, who has not performed since the murders, is in talks to sing the Star-Spangled Banner during the inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama, on January 20 in Washington, D.C.  The bit, which was since picked up by many other media outlets, pointed out the possibility: Hudson, who sang the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August, hails from Chicago, the same city where Obama began his political career.Adding to that is the fact that she is a HUGE Obamamaniack the newspaper source told them.

Quickly, however, a representative for the Idol winner denied that Hudson will perform at the inauguration.  “There is no truth to this,” a representative simply told Access Hollywood, maintaining that Hudson’s return performance will be at an event in Los Angeles in February, paying tribute to musician Neil Diamond.

With that, though, at least we can say that Hudson is indeed poised for a comeback.  Disregarding the debate on whether Obama’s team is sensitive enough to consider the murders, or whether Hudson is black and all—at least a comeback is bound to happen.  Here’s to resiliency, then. This season of the show starts on January 13th and features the addition of a new judge Kara DioGuardi.