I don’t think it’s Simon’s job to give constructive criticism. He’s not their coach or their voice teacher. Their shortcomings aren’t his problem. They’re asking him to give them something that almost nobody ever gets in the music business- automatic entree with a major label deal, major publicity, a major tour, etc. They want him to make them “stars” without their having to any dues. Essentially, they’re trying to sell themselves as a “product” and Simon is simply voicing honest opinions about whether they could be a salable product. It’s not really his obligation to make them salable, it’s their own obligation to sell themselves.
I don’t even think that Simon sees a necessary correlation between “most talented” and “most commercially viable.” That makes some of his comments seem shallow, but he isn’t really speaking about his personal tastes (he has said in interviews that he would never go to a concert by any of the winners) but what he thinks will make money. If he thinks someone is too fat or not attractive enough, he’s really saying that the public is that shallow and considering what the public spends money on, it’s hard to say he’s wrong. You can believe that Simon knows his market.
I dunno, he didn’t like Clay Aiken and uses Clay’s name as a derisive reference but Clay seems to be the most successful so far of the contestants. Kellie Clarkson is finally getting some success and what’s her name from last year has a song out that is played a bunch. I admit my frame of reference may be limited but I am not hearing about anything from Bo Bice, Rubin Stoddard or any of the others
I watched Idol a little bit last season – enough to know who Bo Bice and Constantine are anyway – and I’ve watched most of this year. But the other seasons not at all. I’ve seen Clay Aiken once, on Scrubs, and Ruben Stoddard somewhere.
So I’m wondering – how do this season’s contestants compare to the other winners? If you put all the Idol seasons together, would any of this year’s group be in the top ten, or twenty? I’m just not that impressed with any of them.
As a person who always loved Top 40 and still do, the AI winners do pretty well, considering how fickle the pop audience is. The first winner, Kelly Clarkston. is still going strong putting out many top 10 hits. The last one was Since You’ve Been Gone. Top notch, catchy tune. I liked it.
Clay’s stuff usually gets into the top 40 also, although I don’t remember anything he did. Not my style at all. I have not hear a peep from my favorite winner, Fantasia. Not a sound.
Rueben had about 3 hits on the R&B side. Terrible, awful songs that I hated. I think he may have done some gospel too.
All 'round, Simon has sold many, many albums. A whole lot of them. Millions and millions.
Yep Simon has sold a lot of records especially with hooking his label to the AI format. My point was Simon doesn’t seem to have a definative answer on who will be an Idol. Simon was quite derisive about Clay Aiken while that season was on and uses Clay’s name to put down this season’s contestants. He also didn’t much think of Josh Graycin nor Carrie Underwood. He did like Ruben and Fantasia etc who have not been as succesful. So Simon’s opninion is just as much a crap shoot as anyone else’s.
Oh and Rubin and Kelly Clarkson were on one episode of some inane sitcom about teenagers working at a hotdog stand in a mall. Clay who even though he lost, made enough money his first year to buy out his contract. He was on the Clay aiken Christmas special. Maybe Simon needs to define whose American Idol he is looking for. If the over 40 Grandma’s liked Clay enough to buy his music while Rubin whithers on the vine. Who is really an Idol?
That wasn’t Kelly Clarkson. It was Ruben and Kimberly Caldwell. Kim was the blonde from that season who made it to top 12 but not much farther after that. I don’t remember at what number she was voted off but I know she wasn’t in the top 3 or 4 that year.
He did predict that Carrier Underwood would sell more albums than any other Idol contestant, so you can hardly claim he put her down.
And he’s right about Josh Gracin. Gracin was a nice guy but not much of a singer. He’s had success largely because his audience likes the idea of a country-singing Marine.
He did like Ruben and Fantasia etc who have not been as succesful. So Simon’s opninion is just as much a crap shoot as anyone else’s.
Oh and Rubin and Kelly Clarkson were on one episode of some inane sitcom about teenagers working at a hotdog stand in a mall. Clay who even though he lost, made enough money his first year to buy out his contract. He was on the Clay aiken Christmas special. Maybe Simon needs to define whose American Idol he is looking for. If the over 40 Grandma’s liked Clay enough to buy his music while Rubin whithers on the vine. Who is really an Idol?
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