Sure, American Idol is a singing competition.

Yes, America gets to vote, and we have no reason to believe the votes aren’t tabulated with integrity.

But, American Idol is entertainment as well. And the judges are there to ensure that we don’t lose any of the entertaining contestants too early in the contest.

Note the different treatment of Casey James and Lee Dewyze.

Lee, with an admittedly amazing voice, gets criticized every week for being too nervous/self-conscious on stage.

Casey, with an average voice, is just as nervous/self-conscious when he sings, but never has this fact mentioned to him.

Of course, I would assert, Lee will stay in the competition based on his vocals. There is room to criticize him without undue concern about him getting voted off. Casey, though, has only his good looks at this stage going for him. So the judges give him a free ride on his lack of star persona so that he doesn’t leave the competition early.

Why else revisit the Kara-as-cougar attraction thing week after week after week? Because Casey is weak on vocals but good for entertainment.

The show ultimately is about attracting viewers. About money. Don’t ever forget the primary purpose. And the producers are not.

What about you? Are you keeping your eye on your primary purpose? Is it the bottom line? Upholding a particular value? Achieving a certain level of notoriety?

Take a lesson from the entertainment specialists. Even a singing competition must remain good entertainment to bring in the viewers. The judges will make sure of that. Even if they have to bias their feedback to attain it.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 7:12 pm and is filed under American Idol Savvy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.