Where do we start?\u00c2\u00a0 U2 sweeping the night?\u00c2\u00a0 Or Madge opening the show?<\/p>\n
The people running NARAS are under the illusion that it’s the seventies.\u00c2\u00a0 When music drove the popular culture, when the biggest icons on the landscape were music stars, when bands sold out stadiums and you were lucky to get a ticket to the show.\u00c2\u00a0 Those days are done.\u00c2\u00a0 History.\u00c2\u00a0 Finito.<\/p>\n
Baby boomers are ruining the movie business, the music business and legitimate theatre.\u00c2\u00a0 With their stranglehold on the means of distribution they’re purveying lowest common denominator crap that they believe everybody will consume in mass quantities ad infinitum.\u00c2\u00a0 Remembering when there were only three networks and no choice.<\/p>\n
But today the means of production are in the hands of the proletariat.\u00c2\u00a0 EVERYBODY can afford the computer to make music.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, Macs even come with the program, GarageBand, PREINSTALLED!\u00c2\u00a0 And video cameras can be copped for less than half a grand.\u00c2\u00a0 So we have an explosion of creativity.\u00c2\u00a0 People don’t dream of going to Hollywood, Hollywood now exists in their BEDROOM!\u00c2\u00a0 In their own HOMETOWN!<\/p>\n
It’s kind of like when the pricks in charge talk about the midwest, the FLYOVER people.\u00c2\u00a0 There ARE no flyover people anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 With cable in Iowa as good as cable in L.A., with the Internet everywhere, EVERYBODY’S PLUGGED IN!\u00c2\u00a0 And knows the score.\u00c2\u00a0 So, the old bullshit methods of hype don’t work.\u00c2\u00a0 People see the manipulation behind the machine.\u00c2\u00a0 And reject it.<\/p>\n
Let’s start with Madonna.<\/p>\n
I hate to tell you this, but Madonna is FORTY SEVEN YEARS OLD!\u00c2\u00a0 In some areas of the country, people this age are GRANDMOTHERS!\u00c2\u00a0 The fact that TWENTY YEARS AGO Madonna took a nascent medium by storm, creating a new concept of a star, is INTERESTING, but best read about in history books.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, hate to tell you, but MTV doesn’t PLAY any music anymore!!!<\/p>\n
But Madonna has cred in the old system.\u00c2\u00a0 The one of favors and obligations.\u00c2\u00a0 She can sell tickets.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s famous for creating spectacles that garner ink.\u00c2\u00a0 But don’t you know that no one under twenty five CARES???<\/p>\n
Or how about U2.\u00c2\u00a0 Talk about credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" is mediocre U2!\u00c2\u00a0 Worried about losing the franchise, in the wake of the disappointing, almost disastrous "Pop Mart" album and tour, U2 has played it safe ever since.\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, if kids, if PEOPLE cared about the new U2 album, it wouldn’t have had the sales arc it did.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is over a YEAR ago, before CHRISTMAS, it sold like hotcakes, and then despite endless hype, endless videos, endless touring, it’s barely sold since.\u00c2\u00a0 If it was that good, wouldn’t people still WANT IT?\u00c2\u00a0 So, not only do people not want to tune in to hear "Vertigo", a hit in excess of a year old, when this band of almost fiftysomethings wins all the awards the Grammys lose all credibility.<\/p>\n
And then there’s Bruce Springsteen.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s older than Madge AND U2!<\/p>\n
And Paul McCartney.\u00c2\u00a0 He IS a grandfather!<\/p>\n
Who BUILT this show?\u00c2\u00a0 With every has-been star of the baby boomer generation, even down to a brain dead Sly Stone.<\/p>\n
Even Mariah.\u00c2\u00a0 The younger generation started paying attention with the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync.\u00c2\u00a0 Mariah is over thirty, she’s OLD!\u00c2\u00a0 God, the Beatles had BROKEN UP by the time they were thirty!<\/p>\n
As for Kanye…\u00c2\u00a0 I truly believe this is a critic’s hype.\u00c2\u00a0 Needing something to believe in, this guy has been anointed.\u00c2\u00a0 I love what he said about Bush at the Katrina benefit.\u00c2\u00a0 But if this is a superstar, we’re FUCKED!<\/p>\n
And Kelly Clarkson.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s a great track.\u00c2\u00a0 But if you think ANYBODY believes in Kelly Clarkson you’re sorely mistaken.<\/p>\n
This show was so misguided as to be a disaster from the inception.<\/p>\n
The game is to get viewers.\u00c2\u00a0 Viewers that COUNT!\u00c2\u00a0 Viewers under the age of thirty five.<\/p>\n
So, what do you?<\/p>\n
Create interactive features.\u00c2\u00a0 Appear to be on the cutting edge, rather than be dead.<\/p>\n
Vote for worst dress.\u00c2\u00a0 Worst speech.\u00c2\u00a0 Best dress.\u00c2\u00a0 Best speech.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, dial in and vote and we put the results on the screen, which they even do in FOOTBALL TELECASTS!<\/p>\n
Text message your feedback.\u00c2\u00a0 Put up the best on screen prior to commercial breaks.<\/p>\n
Make the whole show INTERACTIVE!\u00c2\u00a0 Send everybody to the Website.\u00c2\u00a0 Where they can vote on the foregoing, where they can PARTICIPATE!\u00c2\u00a0 Doesn’t ANY MOTHERFUCKER AT NARAS USE A COMPUTER?<\/p>\n
Generations have COMPLETELY changed.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s no longer about being a star, but BEING A MEMBER OF THE GROUP!\u00c2\u00a0 NARAS should have built a COMMUNITY around the awards.\u00c2\u00a0 Put up a Website where people could get free MP3s.\u00c2\u00a0 Download live performances JUST AFTER THEY HAPPENED!\u00c2\u00a0 Create GAMES to play as the show continued.\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, hasn’t anybody read the press, that people now have wireless networks in their homes and surf the Web on their laptops WHILE they’re watching TV?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s been all over the "Wall Street Journal", doesn’t ANYBODY at NARAS read?<\/p>\n
One of the reasons "American Idol" works is because people MAKE FUN of celebrities and others on TV.\u00c2\u00a0 They watch not to ROOT for the contestants, but to LAUGH AT THEM!\u00c2\u00a0 Tell me all day long you want the Grammys to be dignified, but I’ll tell you if nobody’s watching they’re IRRELEVANT!\u00c2\u00a0 MTV built irreverence into the VMAs FIFTEEN YEARS AGO!\u00c2\u00a0 Ever notice how nobody cares who wins on that show?\u00c2\u00a0 THAT’S the new paradigm.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re all in it together.\u00c2\u00a0 THAT’S why we laugh at Mariah…she needs it so BAD!\u00c2\u00a0 She’s so out of TOUCH!<\/p>\n
And the other reason "Idol" works is because of Simon Cowell.\u00c2\u00a0 He says what we all think.<\/p>\n
God, even Suzy Kolber will ask the losing coach tough questions on the sideline at halftime.\u00c2\u00a0 Where are the tough questions for the artists at the Grammys?\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t tell me they won’t answer.\u00c2\u00a0 The football coaches know it’s part of the deal.\u00c2\u00a0 It comes with the money.\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, if you don’t want to be questioned, DON’T SHOW UP!<\/p>\n
God is this business fucked up.\u00c2\u00a0 Those in charge have raped and pillaged, eliminated all that was special about music and as a result the younger generation just doesn’t give a shit about it.<\/p>\n
First, the acts must have talent.<\/p>\n
Mariah might be able to sing, but nobody believes she wrote that record.<\/p>\n
People can marvel at a great guitarist, a great songwriter.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t marvel at what’s been pushed down their throat by a marketing machine, THEY REACT AGAINST IT!<\/p>\n
Second, the acts can’t whore themselves out EVERYWHERE!\u00c2\u00a0 In this scorched-earth sales trip\/marketing juggernaut they end up being sold out soulless cartoons that the public derides.\u00c2\u00a0 LET THE MUSIC DO THE TALKING!<\/p>\n
Third, we need new, credible acts, under the age of thirty.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, we’ve got a few.\u00c2\u00a0 And plenty most people have never heard of.\u00c2\u00a0 But most kids believe a music star is someone good-looking who sells his soul to the company man in order to get good drugs, good pussy and free drinks at the Palms Hotel.<\/p>\n
God, can’t the screen even look like Fox?\u00c2\u00a0 With all that data while you’re watching the game?\u00c2\u00a0 Young kids are able to multitask.\u00c2\u00a0 Give them straight music on TV, and they’re BORED!<\/p>\n
The Grammys had no SIZZLE!\u00c2\u00a0 No EXCITEMENT!\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing UNEXPECTED!\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t a SHOW!\u00c2\u00a0 It was positively old school.\u00c2\u00a0 Performed by old school players.\u00c2\u00a0 Give the Oscars credit, they got Jon Stewart, they tried out Chris Rock.\u00c2\u00a0 They know without the younger generation they’re dead.\u00c2\u00a0 But music continues to whistle by the graveyard.\u00c2\u00a0 Soon the old players will be IN the graveyard.\u00c2\u00a0 Put there by their own ineptitude and the rising power of young kids with tools who deliver what their peers really want.<\/p>\n
\n"American Idol" crushes Grammys in ratings<\/p>\n
DAVID BAUDER<\/p>\n
Associated Press<\/p>\n
NEW YORK – Some humbling news for professional musicians like Madonna and U2: By a wide margin, TV viewers prefer the amateurs.<\/p>\n
Nearly twice as many people – 28.3 million – watched "American Idol" than watched the Grammy Awards – 15.1 million – when the two music programs went head-to-head in prime time Wednesday, according to Nielsen Media Research.<\/p>\n
In large part due to the "American Idol" competition, it was the least-watched Grammy Awards in Nielsen records dating back to the 1970s.<\/p>\n
It certainly wasn’t what CBS, Grammy producers or the struggling music industry anticipated after packing the show with star-studded performances. Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z and Christina Aguilera all performed, and the show also featured a colorful appearance by reclusive star Sly Stone.<\/p>\n
During the 8 to 9 p.m. EST hour, when the Grammys competed directly with "American Idol," the awards show featured Madonna, John Legend, Coldplay and U2 – with the Irish rock band’s duet with Mary J. Blige arguably the evening’s most thrilling moment.<\/p>\n
After "Idol" went off the air, the Grammys picked up a little steam. For its full three-and-a-half hours, the Grammy Awards’ average viewership was 17 million people.<\/p>\n
The least-watched Grammy telecast was in 1995 when the show was watched by 17.2 million people. Last year’s show was seen by 18.8 million people, with 26.3 million viewers in 2004.<\/p>\n
Former "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson won two Grammys, but didn’t mention the Fox show in her tearful acceptance speeches.
The music pros can take a little comfort in at least slowing the "American Idol" momentum. It was the first time in seven telecasts this season that "Idol" was seen by fewer than 30 million people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\nThe industry’s top music awards slipped from 2005 levels (12.3\/19 vs. 13.2\/20) early numbers show.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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