Bixby cautious of Idol curse
The curse of Canadian Idol is upon us again.
The triple bill taking place tomorrow night at the Winspear Centre is part of the "prize" for Brian Melo, Jaydee Bixby and Carly-Rae Jepsen, the first, second and third- place finishers, respectively, of this year's Canadian Idol talent pageant.
Eager fans will enjoy a live version of a televised popularity contest that values style over substance - minus Ben Mulroney, mercifully. It will feature talented, but painfully inexperienced young performers who have been worked like dogs in support of the manufactured Idol "product" and made to sing material they had little part in creating, slaughtering standards, crunching up classics, rocking out as only Canadian Idols can't and inevitably performing the fuzzy, vaguely life-affirming, committee-written Canadian Idol single, All I Ever Wanted Was to Awake From a Flying Dream While I'm Naked or whatever the hell it is this year.
WORSHIPPING FALSE IDOLS
Full disclosure: I didn't see a single nanosecond of this year's season of Canadian Idol, but I used to watch it regularly as a requirement of my job as the meanest Canadian Idol critic. I learned to recognize certain patterns. Great artists don't often enter contests like Canadian Idol - and you can't learn to be great during one season of a reality show. Also, if you write mean things about Canadian Idols, their teenage fans will deluge you with hate mail. Bring it on, girls! Write those letters. I'm here to promote literacy.
This being said, and taking the Christian "love the sinner, hate the sin" attitude, I'm not here to probe old wounds. I'm here to do a piece on young Jaydee Bixby, a perfectly nice kid from Drumheller whom Canadian Idol judge Zack Werner derided as "naive."
Turns out the 17-year-old isn't so naive. The Elvis-loving singer and guitarist says he's well aware of the Idol "stigma," the idea that this very popular and powerful television show can overwhelm an artist trying to find his or her identity - and that's why Bixby has decided to go in a country direction. It's not that great a stretch, of course.
He's even taken to wearing a cowboy hat.
With his parents as his managers, Bixby will soon be off to make deals with Nashville wheels - just as soon as his three-month non-competition contract with CTV ends, right about now, as it happens. It's sink or swim now.
The Idol "curse" can "follow you around," Bixby says, "and that's the reason I went to the country side. Other than Kelly Clarkson, who's had a very popular pop career, it's been all the country music singers, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, all those guys who've made names for themselves and still have continuing careers past Idol."
Ah, yes, it makes perfect sense. The star-grooming machinery of the Nashville country industry feels a lot like the Idol-making franchise, putting the high value on celebrity, bending over backwards to please the fans and relying heavily on the work of professional songwriters and producers who require a steady supply of naive young stars to pay their mortgages. Country fans may even be more tolerant of Idols in their midst than rock fans. The proof is in the career of people like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Pickler, whoever she is. The only Canadian Idol I know of who's managed to find success in rock is former third-place finisher Jacob Hoggard with his band Hedley - and Hoggard wanted his fans not to vote for him so he wouldn't be saddled with the winner's curse.
Bixby says the only reason he entered Canadian Idol is because producers this year allowed contestants to play instruments - a positive step, though I didn't see any of it. It must've really been something.
BLESSING IN DISGUISE
In a way, Bixby admits, coming in second is the best thing that could've happened to him, no disrespect to Melo - this year's winner.
"You get just as much TV time and just as many people get to know you as the winner," Bixby says, and once the contractual shackles are released, "I'd hopefully like to pursue a true, real country music recording."
In the meantime, there are other important matters to attend to - like getting his high school diploma.
He says, "You always got to have something to fall back on."
Hedley, by the way, will also play tomorrow in Edmonton - opening for Bon Jovi. Coincidence? I think so. Idols are everywhere.
source: http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2007/12/11/4718271-sun.html
The triple bill taking place tomorrow night at the Winspear Centre is part of the "prize" for Brian Melo, Jaydee Bixby and Carly-Rae Jepsen, the first, second and third- place finishers, respectively, of this year's Canadian Idol talent pageant.
Eager fans will enjoy a live version of a televised popularity contest that values style over substance - minus Ben Mulroney, mercifully. It will feature talented, but painfully inexperienced young performers who have been worked like dogs in support of the manufactured Idol "product" and made to sing material they had little part in creating, slaughtering standards, crunching up classics, rocking out as only Canadian Idols can't and inevitably performing the fuzzy, vaguely life-affirming, committee-written Canadian Idol single, All I Ever Wanted Was to Awake From a Flying Dream While I'm Naked or whatever the hell it is this year.
WORSHIPPING FALSE IDOLS
Full disclosure: I didn't see a single nanosecond of this year's season of Canadian Idol, but I used to watch it regularly as a requirement of my job as the meanest Canadian Idol critic. I learned to recognize certain patterns. Great artists don't often enter contests like Canadian Idol - and you can't learn to be great during one season of a reality show. Also, if you write mean things about Canadian Idols, their teenage fans will deluge you with hate mail. Bring it on, girls! Write those letters. I'm here to promote literacy.
This being said, and taking the Christian "love the sinner, hate the sin" attitude, I'm not here to probe old wounds. I'm here to do a piece on young Jaydee Bixby, a perfectly nice kid from Drumheller whom Canadian Idol judge Zack Werner derided as "naive."
Turns out the 17-year-old isn't so naive. The Elvis-loving singer and guitarist says he's well aware of the Idol "stigma," the idea that this very popular and powerful television show can overwhelm an artist trying to find his or her identity - and that's why Bixby has decided to go in a country direction. It's not that great a stretch, of course.
He's even taken to wearing a cowboy hat.
With his parents as his managers, Bixby will soon be off to make deals with Nashville wheels - just as soon as his three-month non-competition contract with CTV ends, right about now, as it happens. It's sink or swim now.
The Idol "curse" can "follow you around," Bixby says, "and that's the reason I went to the country side. Other than Kelly Clarkson, who's had a very popular pop career, it's been all the country music singers, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, all those guys who've made names for themselves and still have continuing careers past Idol."
Ah, yes, it makes perfect sense. The star-grooming machinery of the Nashville country industry feels a lot like the Idol-making franchise, putting the high value on celebrity, bending over backwards to please the fans and relying heavily on the work of professional songwriters and producers who require a steady supply of naive young stars to pay their mortgages. Country fans may even be more tolerant of Idols in their midst than rock fans. The proof is in the career of people like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Pickler, whoever she is. The only Canadian Idol I know of who's managed to find success in rock is former third-place finisher Jacob Hoggard with his band Hedley - and Hoggard wanted his fans not to vote for him so he wouldn't be saddled with the winner's curse.
Bixby says the only reason he entered Canadian Idol is because producers this year allowed contestants to play instruments - a positive step, though I didn't see any of it. It must've really been something.
BLESSING IN DISGUISE
In a way, Bixby admits, coming in second is the best thing that could've happened to him, no disrespect to Melo - this year's winner.
"You get just as much TV time and just as many people get to know you as the winner," Bixby says, and once the contractual shackles are released, "I'd hopefully like to pursue a true, real country music recording."
In the meantime, there are other important matters to attend to - like getting his high school diploma.
He says, "You always got to have something to fall back on."
Hedley, by the way, will also play tomorrow in Edmonton - opening for Bon Jovi. Coincidence? I think so. Idols are everywhere.
source: http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Music/2007/12/11/4718271-sun.html
Comments
Post a Comment