Just in time for the 10th season of American Idol, we've released a new book about the show. In Idolized, author Katherine Meizel explores the culture surrounding American Idol and the idea of the "American dream" that it perpetuates. We wanted to get Meizel's thoughts on the new season, past winners, and Steven Tyler's "dangerous" flirting.
The media has secured Jennifer Lopez's image as a diva. Are you surprised at Jennifer Lopez's compassionate role on Idol? Is it what the show needs?
I’m not too surprised. Idol producers are being smart—for eight seasons, viewers were used to having the Cowell-Abdul (or the less compelling Cowell-DeGeneres) personality tension, and instead of replacing those judges with exact copies, the show now has new “characters” who each encompass some of the old guard’s best known qualities. J.Lo can be nice and the voice of our conscience, like Paula; is a dancer, like Paula; is a businesswoman, like Paula (though more successful in that area). Steven Tyler is someone who, while not bent on the same kind of verbal brutality as Simon, is still opinionated; he also flirts dangerously with the girls, like Simon, and blurts out non sequitur declarations, like Paula. So there’s a lot that’s familiar there for viewers.
Do you think that recent winners like Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze have the same relevance and enduring qualities as 2002's winner Kelly Clarkson? Why or why not?
In certain ways, yes—Lee more so, because he is someone who started out without a lot of confidence or screen time, and ended up having a “breakthrough moment” like Kelly, and really pulled himself together as a performer by the end of his season. Kelly was the original ordinary-to-extraordinary, waitress-to-popstar Idol model, and Lee did that, too (he was, we heard over and over, a paint store employee). Kelly completely broke away from her R&B Idol roots and went for a rock career. Maybe Lee will find something that propels him to greater sales, too; maybe not.
What is the most important American Idol demographic?
That’s tough to say. Recent reports have put the average viewer age at something like 40, but I’ve talked to people of all ages who watch and vote. It’s really significant to me that right now I have students who have been watching virtually their whole lives, since age 8—they grew up with Idol. I don’t know what that means for this new generation of adults yet, but it’ll be fascinating to find out!
How long can the Idol dynasty last? Are shows like The X Factor a legitimate threat?
I do think The X Factor is a legitimate threat, because it’s Cowell, and it’s on the same network (although maybe that last point helps Idol—the two shows can’t be aired simultaneously, at least!), and though it has many similar qualities, it also offers a wider age range for participants, a competition between judges, and of course the big draw, Simon Cowell. As for the Idol dynasty, it’s a franchise that’s had over 40 versions all over the world, and hundreds of shows formatted in imitation of it. It’s been so significant culturally—for example, the idea of using voting to create a sense of consumer choice, of democratic agency, is absolutely pervasive now—that whether it stays on the air or not, I think we’ll be feeling its influence for a long time.
You mention in your book about the trends of reality television, from Candid Camera to American Idol. Regardless of the trends, will Americans ever tire from reality TV?
Well, we never have tired of it; it just keeps coming back, particularly whenever we have any kind of crisis. In an economic crisis it’s cheaply-made TV, so the networks can always rely on it, and in a political crisis it gives us a way to work out our fears and frustrations in a setting that, however contrived, involves “real people.” Seeing ourselves on TV—something closer to American demographics than what we see in dramas and sitcoms—can be a powerful thing when we need to remember who we are.
American Idol does a great job at showcasing its front runners. (Danny Gokey and his sad life story in Season 8 come to mind.) How does this affect viewer participation and, consequently, the outcome of the show?
It does certainly help viewers identify with specific contestants (though pushing a sad story too much sometimes makes audience members feel manipulated), and to remind us that, again, the singers are those “real people.” It’s also a huge part of our American Dream narratives, where we have to overcome obstacles on our way to success.
In your book, you mention how authenticity is a social construction in itself. Which past contestants have been the best at constructing their image as "authentic"?
The construction of a contestant’s image is accomplished not only by the contestant, but collaboratively by contestants, producers, and the viewers who respond to what they see and hear on TV. And what is considered authentic depends on context—some singers’ images have been focused around a sense of individuality, or self-authenticity; some have been centered on an authenticity of musical genre (this is especially evident in how the judges talk about singers associated with rock, who always must be “true to themselves”); some have been portrayed as authentic in other ways, supporting authenticity discourse about race and ethnicity, regional provenance, gender, and religion.
What is the significance of "going to Hollywood"? How does it contribute to the American Idol "dream"?
Simon Cowell once told Larry King that Idol was conceived with the idea of illustrating the American Dream—he and his partner Simon Fuller couldn’t sell it here at first, so it ended up in the U.K. before it was picked up in the U.S. And the fundamental tenet of every American Dream narrative is about movement and change—from a small Southern town to Hollywood in the big city, form Somewhere Else to the U.S., from socioeconomic status to another; all of it is about motion and our feet being always turned toward the next destination. In his State of the Union address a few weeks ago, President Obama said much the same thing. “Sustaining the American Dream,” he said, “has never been about standing pat.” The Dream is a powerful story of motion that somehow, nevertheless, settles us, and that has carried us through the Great Depression and the Great Recession—and the President isn’t the only one who knows it still reassures us, still helps us to locate a stable national identity as our place in the world destabilizes. “Going to Hollywood” represents all of that.
How has the integration of musical instruments changed the landscape of American Idol?
The idea of singers also playing instruments is more associated with rock than with pop, and the shift on Idol actually coincided with the overt acceptance of rock singers in the show. This season, there is a guy who’s played jazz on melodica and bass so far in his auditions, and he’s really showed some skill. Sometimes it does seem to distract the singers from their singing, and they don’t always perform as well when they have two things to concentrate on. But for some, it’s a great way to demonstrate versatility.
Some runners-up, like Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert, have become even more popular than Idol winners. How do you explain this?
As an Idol finalist with a strong musical and/or personal identity, you can attract a niche audience that might be very enthusiastic, and might succeed in making you the American Idol, but even a person who votes 3,000 times for you probably won’t buy 3,000 copies of your album—so voting numbers don’t always predict sales.
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