# Why is Canadian Idol such a joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-canadian-idol-such-a-joke/363113 "2006-07-04T01:26:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-canadian-idol-such-a-joke/363113/21 "2006-07-07T00:34:24Z")
Ben Mulroney makes Ryan Seacrest look like Johnny Carson. And while I usually think Cowell has a point and he can be witty, the Canadian equivalent is a real nasty piece of work. Lastly, for the love of god, someone up the budget so Sass Jordan can get a hair and make up person? (and this is after having seen 1.5 episodes) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-canadian-idol-such-a-joke/363113/22 "2006-07-07T02:55:35Z")
Lemur866 writes: \> Any performer who really deep down believed they could make it in the music \> business would never appear on American Idol. Furthermore, notice that nearly all (or maybe it’s all) of the top two performers on all the seasons of _American Idol_ come from the Southeast (i.e., Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and other states south and east of them). It’s like it’s the only part of the U.S. where singers good enough to win _American Idol_ would sign the contract making themselves an employee of the producers of the show. Singers from other parts of the country are too cynical and too wise to the tricks of such people to be willing to go that route to fame. They know that the best route to fame is to get yourself known by people in the music industry and hope to get a recording contract. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-canadian-idol-such-a-joke/363113/23 "2006-07-07T03:17:17Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > Heh, yeah but that’s because American’s are better at cheese. Nothing makes me feel quite as gross as when Canadians make a crap-ball version of some crappy American thing. However, in the case of Canadian Idol, it’s a crap-ball version of a BRITISH thing. > [@lemur866](#): > > What people don’t seem to realize is that the contestants on American Idol sign away their careers for a chance to be on the show. Once you sign, American Idol OWNS you. You might be famous for 15 minutes, but you won’t own your own recording, you have no say in your own career, you don’t own anything, you’re a hired hand. > > Any performer who really deep down believed they could make it in the music business would never appear on American Idol. Two words: Kelly Clarkson. She doesn’t work for the AI people anymore and she’s raking it in. What you describe has been true of most fledging pop stars since the beginning of the popular music industry. AI contestants are really not in any different a position than most people getting into the industry. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-canadian-idol-such-a-joke/363113/24 "2006-07-07T10:19:47Z")
RickJay writes: \> Two words: Kelly Clarkson. She doesn’t work for the AI people anymore and \> she’s raking it in. Cite? According to the Wikipedia article on _American Idol_, the winners agree to record only with companies associated with the producers of the show: > **[American Idol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Idol)** > > American Idol is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to April 7, 2016, for 15 seasons. It was on hiatus for two years until March 11, 2018, when a revival of the series began airing on ABC. > It started as an addition to the Idols format that was based on Pop Idol from British television, and became one of the most succe... Kelly Clarkson fired her manager, Simon Fuller, the creator of all the _Pop Idol_ group of shows after two years. However, it appears that she still records only for companies authorized by these people. I’ve been told that the contestants for the shows have to sign an agreement before going on the show that they will stay with these recording companies. Is this not true? How could Kelly get out of this contract? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-canadian-idol-such-a-joke/363113.md?page=1)