American Idol/The Voice/X Factor Skank Discussion, So we can talk amongst ourselves... Options

[lifesabeach]

So how did Beyonce know to use hyenas?

Now I have that song stuck in my head. Her music is always so repetitive and I find it to be a sensory assault. The tone is always so umpleasant and agitating.

[crunkette]

All I thought of when I saw that shot was Harley Quinn, sidekick/girlfriend to the Joker...

[lifesabeach]

All I thought of when I saw that shot was Harley Quinn, sidekick/girlfriend to the Joker...

Aww, brilliant!! My daughter will get such a kick out of this. Too bad they're not the good guys. I bet she'll be inspired to write a book.

Thank you so much for posting!

Tonight at her piano recital she played "Chow Down" from the Lion King Broadway, written by Elton John. It's the number the hyenas perform together.

This post has been edited by lifesabeach: May 21st 2011, 12:29 AM

[lifesabeach]

Was this posted? Lyndsey Parker:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityro...-idle-promises/

Songs, Lies & Videotape: 'American Idol's' Idle Promises
Posted Thu May 19, 2011 12:00pm PDT by Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks


Hey kids! Remember that big splashy Los Angeles "American Idol" press conference last summer, when producer Nigel Lythgoe returned, new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler were introduced, and Randy Jackson claimed Season 10 was going to be "American Idol: The Remix"? No? Ah, how quickly we forget. But that's understandable, since almost everything Nigel and his "A.I." cronies promised that day never came to be. Clearly he forgot, too.

Okay, I've got to give Nigel proper credit for turning this show around--Season 10 was way better than Season 9 (not that that's saying much). But for the most part, it's been pretty much business as usual this year. Same "Idol," different judges. This is "American Idol," as Ryan Seacrest would say.

It will be interesting to see how "Idol" will compete in the future against talent competitions like "The Voice" and "The X Factor," fresh shows with an edgier and more diverse array of talent (not to mention tougher judges). And will we ever be able to fully trust "Idol" again, with the shards of its many broken promises scattered like so much onstage finale confetti? I just don't know.

Here's what the "Idol" powers-that-be SAID was going to happen this season. All lies, filthy lies!

LIE #1: No Celebrity Mentors - This season, the contestants were supposed to be the sole subjects of in-house mentor Jimmy Iovine, the Universal Records honcho who'd whip them into shape before, presumably, signing them to his label. I liked this idea, since most of this show's celebrity mentors have historically gone too soft on the contestants and/or seemed more concerned with hyping their own projects, while Jimmy clearly had a lot more invested in bringing out these kids' best. I enjoyed Jimmy's no-bull approach this season, but soon he was, lo and behold, joined by a succession of guest mentors, including (Universal Records signings) Sheryl Crow and Lady Gaga, J.Lo's hubby Marc Anthony, Beyonce (who--what a coincidence!--had a new music video to promote), and will.i.am, a dude who for a while seemed unwilling to leave the "Idol" set. (Call security!) They offered better advice most of the time than, frankly, Jennifer and Steven did...but still, I wish Jimmy Iovine had just been left alone to do his supposed job.

LIE #2: No Genre-Specific Themes - Back at that press conference and in subsequent 2010 interviews, the "Idol" powers-that-be said they were going to allow contestants to stick to their specialty genres--i.e., country singers wouldn't be forced to do rock, or vice versa--and that any weekly themes would be decade-specific instead. This too did not last. After a couple open-to-interpretation weeks during which the semifinalists could sing almost anything they pleased, it was back to the old "Idol" karaoke songbook, as the contestants were forced to sing songs from Motown, Carole King, and Leiber & Stoller. (The one proposed decade-themed week, Eighties Week, which would have been totally awesome, was switched at the last minute, and without explanation, to Elton John Week.) Just imagine, if reggae queen Naima Adedapo hadn't had to do Elton's "I'm Still Standing," or if balladeer Pia Toscano hadn't done "River Deep Mountain High"--and if everyone had stuck with material they could truly excel at--how differently this season might have panned out.

LIE #3: More Artist Development - Jimmy's vision at the beginning of the season was that with hands-on coaching by his stable of superstar producers (like Timbaland, Tricky Stewart, Don Was, Rodney Jerkins, and yes, the ubiquitous will.i.am), by the end of the season each contestant would have amassed an album's worth of material good enough to compete with any legitimate hit pop album out there. This too was not really the case. While a few contestants (Haley Reinhart, Casey Abrams, Paul McDonald) benefitted from the pro studio treatment, sadly, some of the studio recordings actually failed to live up to the exciting live performances (the recorded version of James Durbin's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" being a prime example of this). And many of them were so over-tooled that the contestants' personalities were all but lost. Additionally, Jimmy and his henchmen seemed so hyper-focused on getting good, downloadable iTunes recordings out of these kids that his agenda often seemed at odds with that of the show's producers and judges, which was to get good TV performances onstage. (Example: Randy Jackson kept telling Jacob Lusk to belt it out; Jimmy kept telling Jacob to tone it down.) No wonder these contestants were so confused.

LIE #4: A Younger, Hipper Vibe - With its stable of of-the-moment record producers and a lowered age limit, the "Idol" honchos once asserted that "American Idol: The Remix" would be a revamped competition that would help find "the next Lady Gaga or Muse." But most of the edgier contestants (Naima Adedapo, Paul McDonald, Casey Abrams, James Durbin, Rachel Zevita, Brett Loewenstern) fell by the wayside; the contestants still sang ancient songs unfamiliar to the nation's youth (see Lie #2); the frontrunners wound up being the singers with the most conservative appeal; and, ironically, the season's youngest hopefuls, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, and Thia Megia, were the most conservative contestants of all. So don't expect the average age of "Idol's" viewership (45 years old) to come down any time soon.

The truth hurts.

[islandgirljams]

May 21, 12:55 AM
'Idol' Finalists Tour Contract -- $1,000 per Show

"American Idol's"  top 11 finalists are set to make bank over the summer -- because TMZ has learned they'll each get paid $1,000 for EVERY show they perform during the American Idol Live Tour . TMZ obtained a copy of the contract all Idol finalists had to sign before the show -- which spells out exactly how much dough they'll pull in if they're invited to participate on the international tour. In addition to the $1,000-per-concert -- the documents show each finalist will share in merchandise profits from the tour ... and will also receive $50 in spending cash for non-concert days. Finalists are also guaranteed to stay in "Marriott/Hyatt style" hotel accommodations while on the road -- and will fly coach between tour stops. According to the contract, the tour will kick off immediately after the Season 10 winner is announced on May 25 -- and will go until the end of September. Not bad for a summer job.

[Love2Lurk]

May 21, 12:55 AM
'Idol' Finalists Tour Contract -- $1,000 per Show

"American Idol's"  top 11 finalists are set to make bank over the summer -- because TMZ has learned they'll each get paid $1,000 for EVERY show they perform during the American Idol Live Tour . TMZ obtained a copy of the contract all Idol finalists had to sign before the show -- which spells out exactly how much dough they'll pull in if they're invited to participate on the international tour. In addition to the $1,000-per-concert -- the documents show each finalist will share in merchandise profits from the tour ... and will also receive $50 in spending cash for non-concert days. Finalists are also guaranteed to stay in "Marriott/Hyatt style" hotel accommodations while on the road -- and will fly coach between tour stops. According to the contract, the tour will kick off immediately after the Season 10 winner is announced on May 25 -- and will go until the end of September. Not bad for a summer job.

Thanks Isla......plus they get to travel 'from sea to shining sea"
I wonder if this is more or less than other years ????

[SueB]

^^^ No, it's not bad - until you get to week 11 or 12 and the exhaustion kicks in because they're doing show after show after show after show with very few breaks! Straight touring from the end of May to September is a LONG time. Not as easy as it sounds! And after a while the money might not seem like much of a compensation when all you want to do is sleep for a few days...

We all remember when Adam was on the tour and after a while all anyone talked about was how tired they were and how sick they were of busses and hotels!

[chensuu]

May 21, 12:55 AM
'Idol' Finalists Tour Contract -- $1,000 per Show

"American Idol's"  top 11 finalists are set to make bank over the summer -- because TMZ has learned they'll each get paid $1,000 for EVERY show they perform during the American Idol Live Tour . TMZ obtained a copy of the contract all Idol finalists had to sign before the show -- which spells out exactly how much dough they'll pull in if they're invited to participate on the international tour. In addition to the $1,000-per-concert -- the documents show each finalist will share in merchandise profits from the tour ... and will also receive $50 in spending cash for non-concert days. Finalists are also guaranteed to stay in "Marriott/Hyatt style" hotel accommodations while on the road -- and will fly coach between tour stops. According to the contract, the tour will kick off immediately after the Season 10 winner is announced on May 25 -- and will go until the end of September. Not bad for a summer job.

Does this include the top 2? Does anyone remember how much Adam and Kris made because I seem to remember it being more.
How many concerts are they having this year? I'm not going so I'm not really following!

Was this posted? Lyndsey Parker:

LIE #2: No Genre-Specific Themes - Back at that press conference and in subsequent 2010 interviews, the "Idol" powers-that-be said they were going to allow contestants to stick to their specialty genres--i.e., country singers wouldn't be forced to do rock, or vice versa--and that any weekly themes would be decade-specific instead. This too did not last. After a couple open-to-interpretation weeks during which the semifinalists could sing almost anything they pleased, it was back to the old "Idol" karaoke songbook, as the contestants were forced to sing songs from Motown, Carole King, and Leiber & Stoller.

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityro...-idle-promises/

I am forever grateful to the genre specific theme weeks for Ring of Fire. I know the show wants to be all about current, but for me theme weeks allow for most of the memorable performances.

This post has been edited by chensuu: May 21st 2011, 9:30 AM

[Love2Lurk]

Does this include the top 2? Does anyone remember how much Adam and Kris made because I seem to remember it being more.
How many concerts are they having this year? I'm not going so I'm not really following!
I am forever grateful to the genre specific theme weeks for Ring of Fire. I know the show wants to be all about current, but for me theme weeks allow for most of the memorable performances.

And creativity .....and yes.....so thankful for ROF

[madamimadam]

Thanks Isla......plus they get to travel 'from sea to shining sea"
I wonder if this is more or less than other years ????

I have no idea where I heard this... but there's this memory in the back of my head about a $250,000 figure for the AI8 Tour... Anybody else remember anything about this?

[Kimberly_Caldwell_4_Life]

^^^ No, it's not bad - until you get to week 11 or 12 and the exhaustion kicks in because they're doing show after show after show after show with very few breaks! Straight touring from the end of May to September is a LONG time. Not as easy as it sounds! And after a while the money might not seem like much of a compensation when all you want to do is sleep for a few days...

We all remember when Adam was on the tour and after a while all anyone talked about was how tired they were and how sick they were of busses and hotels!

They were all sick by the end of tour too.

I have no idea where I heard this... but there's this memory in the back of my head about a $250,000 figure for the AI8 Tour... Anybody else remember anything about this?

I remember it. That's probably the total that they got, merch cuts included.

[lifesabeach]

Thanks Isla......plus they get to travel 'from sea to shining sea"
I wonder if this is more or less than other years ????

I think they do about 50 shows over the course of the tour. I think it's a lot less than before. Adam made $600k, Kris did about $650k. I remember Lil Rounds saying she made $450k and was able to buy a nice townhome for her fam.

[Silvia]

May 21, 12:55 AM
'Idol' Finalists Tour Contract -- $1,000 per Show

"American Idol's"  top 11 finalists are set to make bank over the summer -- because TMZ has learned they'll each get paid $1,000 for EVERY show they perform during the American Idol Live Tour . TMZ obtained a copy of the contract all Idol finalists had to sign before the show -- which spells out exactly how much dough they'll pull in if they're invited to participate on the international tour. In addition to the $1,000-per-concert -- the documents show each finalist will share in merchandise profits from the tour ... and will also receive $50 in spending cash for non-concert days. Finalists are also guaranteed to stay in "Marriott/Hyatt style" hotel accommodations while on the road -- and will fly coach between tour stops. According to the contract, the tour will kick off immediately after the Season 10 winner is announced on May 25 -- and will go until the end of September. Not bad for a summer job.

This sounds a lot less than season 8. In fact, it sounds half of what they made. Didn't they make 100K for the tour? With the winner and runner up possibly making more?

I think they do about 50 shows over the course of the tour. I think it's a lot less than before. Adam made $600k, Kris did about $650k. I remember Lil Rounds saying she made $450k and was able to buy a nice townhome for her fam.

How do you know Adam made 600K?

[Kimberly_Caldwell_4_Life]

Adam & Kris got more, because they also had individual merch, aside from the standard merch.

[SueB]

Yeah, just about everyone got sick, some of them more than once! Kris Allen even had to back out of performing at one stop because he became so ill. I'm a little worried about Casey because the stress of the tour won't do his intestinal problems any good. I hope he's OK.

I seem to recall the pace was something along the lines of: do the show, get on the bus, drive several hours to the next stop, do promo, do the show, get back on the bus, drive another several hours, do promo, do the show, get back on the bus, etc. They basically never stopped moving. Even when they got a day off they were so wrung out all they wanted to do was rest. It was downright grueling. I'm sure some of them thought after a while that they just wanted it to be over!

This post has been edited by SueB: May 21st 2011, 2:40 PM

[lifesabeach]

This sounds a lot less than season 8. In fact, it sounds half of what they made. Didn't they make 100K for the tour? With the winner and runner up possibly making more?
How do you know Adam made 600K?

There was an article in USA Today... or NY Times... or Wall St Journal about it. I looked for it recently and couldn't find it.

[sealuv]

There was an article in USA Today... or NY Times... or Wall St Journal about it. I looked for it recently and couldn't find it.

lifesabeach...is this the article you were thinking of....it gives a good $ run down of Season 8's contestants....their specific and potential earnings...but isn't specific on the Idol Tour earnings....unless I missed it. MTV News got it from the NY Times.....

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1632515/a...big-bucks.jhtml

[stardust1213]

During Adam's twitter party!!!

adamlambert Adam Lambert
@
@lucia_glambert yup!! I will be there for the results show! So excited!!
3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply


lucia_glambert Lucia Glambert
@adamlambert are u going to the Idol finale?
11 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Yay...We'll see glimpses of Adam and perhaps Sauli.....

[Kimberly_Caldwell_4_Life]

WOO! Adam will be there!

[Tiki'srose]

Wouldn't it be a fantastic surprise if Adam happens to be performing with one of the contestants!