Hollywood knew exactly what it was doing when it manipulated the audience to vote Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard into the final of American Idol. Ben Elton points out in his book Chart Throb that what American idol is looking for in the audition process is mingers, clingers and singers. Mingers are the ugly people who think they can sing, clingers are the people “who want it SO much”. And singers, well, they can actual hold a tune. Anyway the point I’m getting at is that singing is not exactly essential to the purpose of American idol – which is to make a good tv show, and not find the next pop sensation. Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard were a mixture of mingers and singers but they probably didn’t get through to the final 12 on their ability to sing – more like they got through to the final 12 because they weren’t the conventional pop star. They got through because they made good tv. American Idol is hardly a talent show, people may think that Clay Aiken and Ruben Staddard got to the final 12 because of their sheer talent, but the fact is they got through because of their image. Mingers that make good tv. If the made-over Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken of today auditioned for American Idol – I’d doubt they’d have a chance.
Rose Rees-Owen
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