I don’t want you to buy into the American Idol hype. I don’t myself. But hype is different than delivering, and this show delivers. What does it deliver? I’m not sure. But it does deliver.
I’ve said before that it is a clever show because it creates a fan favorite with a huge fanbase in the amount of time it takes an average musical talent to write 10 songs. In 6 months you go from being a industry nobody to platinum record sales. it’s brilliant.
But you know what would be even more brilliant? How about using AI to launch you from nobody to somebody, and then jumping ship before they can lock you into signing on the dotted line? It’s no secret that many in the industry view the contracts awarded to Idol winners as restrictive, but most agree that it is worth it when you consider the instant pub one also gets. But what if you used the show to make a name for yourself, and then went on to do your own thing?
Even more clever, what if you used the fact that you were leaving the show and wrapped it in mystery to create additional interest in you? This past week Mario Vazquez’s name has been on the front page of the USA Today, CNN.com, and my blog. Pretty impressive trifecta. Noone knows why he left, and I think he likes it that way. I don’t know if I’m ready to give him or his management folks this much credit yet, but what if this was all a publicity stunt to surround him with more attention and then strike while the iron is hot. If his debut album comes out in 2 months and it’s titled “My Secret”, i think we’ll have all the proof we need.
Chances are he’s got a skeleton in his closet (perhaps something related to the fact that he sang backup for Michael Jackson in the 90s??…yes thats true), but it’s interesting to think at how this could play out if he was trying to use American Idol the way it uses the talented kids who perform on the show. If so, I say more power to him.
And as far as me not buying into the hype, well i guess this blog entry kinda disqualifies me for that. Oh well. I tried.