While someone whom I regard as a friend was texting and calling me “a fucking twat” for not even being at Music Matters in Singapore, I was somewhere else watching the Finale of “American Idol” and seeing another Asian in Jessica Sanchez come second in Season 12 of the show. Having followed this girl’s career since she was 11, this was a priority. Am I disappointed she didn’t win? Not really. First, second, even third- or fifth like Jennifer Hudson did and went on to become the Star she, it all doesn’t matter. This one show can make careers where there once were none- or else, they were struggling careers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2GQ5KdyvvU
Meanwhile, back in Singapore, my (former?) friend asked me to go onto Twitter and read what “Asian Musicians” were saying about the Music Matters conference- “inspiring and awesome”- and all of which is fine. Sincerely, I hope it leads somewhere instead of what’s said and done in Singapore staying in Singapore. Asian musicians have been dealt a bad hand for decades and if they get something out of anything, great. It’s all relative and here’s hoping that all this “awesomeness” leads somewhere as I have heard “awesomeness” before about bands from Mongolia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong etc- and nada has happened. The follow-up has never been there and it’s off to see the Wizard again and more “awesomeness” in another location. Always finish what you have started.
Same, in a much bigger way with “American Idol”: One can have an “awesome” Final, one can be named or voted the winner and, well, as I always ask, Then what?
The Finale to “Idol” stuck to its now familiar format of showing “the funny outtakes” and the young contestants performing with, I presume, are their idols. John Fogerty sang and played with eventual winner Phil Phillips, Fantasia went berserk and “testified” with Joshua Ledet- it was fucking terrifying as I have an allergic reaction to “testifying.” It creeps me out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4LV091z8WY
The “country girl” sang with Reba McIntire and Jessica Sanchez played second fiddle to Jennifer Holliday from “Dream Girls.” Again, a tad scary for my tastes, but, that’s just personal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVG2uxfLXUA
It was all very nice and great to be unknown one minute and then be up there sharing the stage with a legend the next. It all makes for good television, it’s a format that doesn’t alienate too many, it plays to White Middle Class America and 132 million- MILLION- votes say something about the sheer power of the “Idol” franchise. After those numbers, “The Voice”, “X Factor” might as well go home- as businesses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmWxNmDqJWc
So, will Jennifer Lopez stay on as a Judge for another season? Will audiences really miss her if she were to leave? Remember the bells of doom chiming for the show when Simon Cowell upped and left? On that judging panel, no one is indispensible. As for Jessica Sanchez and Phillip Phillips, from what I’ve only heard, she has a stack of offers on the table and sure looks like making her debt on Broadway as opposed to a bona fide recording artist. Smart, as the stage, seems to be this girl’s natural home and being in a Musical seems to b the next logical career step. Phil Phillips? He surprised me and made me eat my words- which is never easy to do- and taste humble pie.
The guy was humble, he felt blessed as many do and his new single could easily become a hit. The rest? Well, that’s up to Jimmy Iovine, Lucien Grainge and others at UMG. It won’t be easy, but he doesn’t look like going the way of other “Idolers” like Lee Dewyze, Crystal Bowersox, Casey James and others who have either been dropped by their labels or are so under the radar that everyone has forgotten about them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfRya-P4ffk
Perhaps, after all the hype and sudden recognition of being on “Idol” and becoming household names in such a short span- and also being “household names” for such a short span- under the radar is exactly where they wish to be. Hype- and sudden “awesomeness” can be a dangerous thing and with little lasting power. God is in the details and it’s all in the follow-up.
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