American Idol began its sixth season last night and based on last year's average of 30 million viewers per episode, it is again bound to be a big hit. Jennifer Hudson, an American Idol “also-ran” Monday evening won a Gold Globe for her role in the movie version of “Dreamgirls.” This can only help boost ratings. This year’s program will have additional features, like a songwriting contest to ensure viewer interest as the contest makes its way from the initial humiliation of contestants to longer-term humiliation as those with “talent” make their way to the finals. Humiliation has been a major part of this program and it has been an important aspect of pop culture in general for at least ten years. I have written elsewhere about the ways in which advertisers humiliate men when they depict them as cavemen, wolves, and caught in public without their pants. Americans, it appears, have not lost their taste for seeing bad things happen to other people; referred to as schadenfreude. But more to the theme of our course: American Idol is a great example of media convergence, primarily because of its interactive qualities. In other words, viewers participate--20 million or more votes are cast by viewers--in order to determine those that will move on to the next round and ultimately who will win the contest. Advertisers are integrally involved in this process as Cingular utilized the opportunity to encourage text messaging of viewers’ votes in order to increase the use of this service in America. Obviously, there is interconnectedness between the program itself and the other media properties it spawns that range from touring shows, individual CDs from winners and losers, movies, and books, among others. It is the interconnectedness of all these media that compels individual viewers to become fans and to find in various media modalities ways in which to satisfy their emotional cravings to be close to this viewer created phenomenon.
Showing posts with label media convergence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media convergence. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
American Idol: The great American transformation from humiliation to stardom
American Idol began its sixth season last night and based on last year's average of 30 million viewers per episode, it is again bound to be a big hit. Jennifer Hudson, an American Idol “also-ran” Monday evening won a Gold Globe for her role in the movie version of “Dreamgirls.” This can only help boost ratings. This year’s program will have additional features, like a songwriting contest to ensure viewer interest as the contest makes its way from the initial humiliation of contestants to longer-term humiliation as those with “talent” make their way to the finals. Humiliation has been a major part of this program and it has been an important aspect of pop culture in general for at least ten years. I have written elsewhere about the ways in which advertisers humiliate men when they depict them as cavemen, wolves, and caught in public without their pants. Americans, it appears, have not lost their taste for seeing bad things happen to other people; referred to as schadenfreude. But more to the theme of our course: American Idol is a great example of media convergence, primarily because of its interactive qualities. In other words, viewers participate--20 million or more votes are cast by viewers--in order to determine those that will move on to the next round and ultimately who will win the contest. Advertisers are integrally involved in this process as Cingular utilized the opportunity to encourage text messaging of viewers’ votes in order to increase the use of this service in America. Obviously, there is interconnectedness between the program itself and the other media properties it spawns that range from touring shows, individual CDs from winners and losers, movies, and books, among others. It is the interconnectedness of all these media that compels individual viewers to become fans and to find in various media modalities ways in which to satisfy their emotional cravings to be close to this viewer created phenomenon.
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