American Idol - How To Get On American Idol

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American Idol first debuted on American television under the name of American Idol: The Search for a Superstar. It is part of an Idol series which started in the United Kingdom as Pop Idol, and now has versions all over the globe including Australian Idol and Singapore Idol. All shows run under a similar basic format and operate as talent shows meant to find the best undiscovered talent in each country. Although founded as a singing competition, American Idol has grown into a massive marketing machine that is driven by sponsors who pay a million dollars for a 30 second commercial during run time. Product placement is another key moneymaker for American Idol; you'll often see contestants drinking of Coca-Cola plastic cups or lounging backstage in the Coca-Cola Red Room, complete with a red leather Coca-Cola couch.

American Idol is shown on the Fox network in the United States and managed by 19 Entertainment. Initially shopped around and rejected by many other networks, American Idol has found its permanent home and has become a huge hit for Fox, partly due to the presence of judge Simon Cowell. The acid-tongued Brit, Simon Cowell, was initially a judge on Britain’s Pop Idol, and has since become an American household name due to his blunt and searing critiques of many of the American Idol contestants. Simon Cowell has since produced American Inventor and the latest television talent competition, America's Got Talent.

The success of American Idol is irrefutable, having won the top spot on Neilson Ratings for the last 4 years and earning a larger viewership than the Olympics, The Grammy Awards and the NBA Playoffs.

American Idol is hosted by the affable Ryan Seacrest who we first meet during the audition process. The talent competition holds auditions in several US cities including LA, Memphis. Salt Lake City and Boston, where associate judges weed through thousand of Idol hopefuls in booths and tents in arena parking lots.

If a contestant has what it takes to entertain American television audiences, then he or she is passed through to Directors Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller. If the contestants impress either or both of these two men, the contestant is then able to reach the highest stage of judging -- meeting Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson. Once the contestant performs a song or two for Simon, Paula and Randy, the final judgment on whether they will advance to Hollywood is given. Each contestant needs two out of three votes, and if the vote is in the contestant’s favor, he or she gets the famous yellow ticket and is sent to Hollywood for a week of exhausting performances and tough judging. At the end of Hollywood week, the top 24 have evolved and usually represent a diverse group of males and females of all races and musical genres.

There are several criteria one must meet in order to try out for Idol. All audition hopefuls must be between the ages of 16-29 years of age and not have a recording contract or talent representation. Release forms must be signed by all in order to enable American Idol to use your voice or image during any part of its broadcasts.

Sociology of Reality TV

You know something has permeated a culture when American colleges and universities are charging big money to teach classes about the sociology and psychology of reality TV.

Aside from the more traditional subjects like calculus and European History, college students are paying several grand a semester to collectively watch and discuss Big Brother, American Idol or MTV's The Real World. Students debate questions like “Why is reality TV so popular?” or “Why do people want to be broadcast while using the toilet or failing to discipline their wild children?” I am sure the founders of the great American institutions of learning are backflipping in their graves knowing that students are writing papers about Flavor Flav, but many academics argue that reality TV actually provides a new lens through which to view and interpret our culture. The question remains: Could reality TV actually be teaching us anything, or are these classes just dangling carrots to get more students to pay $30,000 tuition bills?

No matter what, popular culture has arguably been taken over by television’s version of reality. Though these shows are not something many of us wish to put into a time capsule to reflect the condition of American media in the 21st century, most of us cannot get enough of them. There are just as many closet watchers of reality TV as there are self-proclaimed reality addicts. And, it doesn’t even seem like the story-line or topic matters anymore – it’s the format that grabs us. The same person might watch Project Runway, Making the Band and Flip that House. So perhaps it’s just exciting to peer into the minds, emotions and lives of others. The popularity of blogs would certainly affirm that. In a time when we know less and less about what goes on behind the doors of the Oval Office or the gilded lobbies of American’s largest corporations, it seems we all just want a little bit of truth, or else a whole lot of candor.

Reality TV Trivia

Reality TV Triva

Can You name the Winners of Past Reality TV Shows?

• Who was the First Winner of Survivor?
• Name two Survivor Winners that extended their Fame?
• Donald Trumps Apprentice is Produced by What Reality Production Company?
• Can you Name 2 Succesful Simon Cowell Productions?

Survivor on CBS

Survivor is one of the most popular reality television shows of all time. The show is fascinating to a broad viewing audience for several reasons, but primarily due to the exotic locations which serve as the setting for the show, as well as the extreme drama which results from having an incredibly diverse group of individuals trapped together at a remote location. The history of Survivor actually has its own series of tribulations and struggles, mostly due to the fact that no television network wanted to buy it. Many Survivor fans do not know that the United States’ version of the show and was based upon the successful Swedish show Expedition: Robinson.

The idea for Survivor was originally generated by British producer Charlie Parsons who shopped the show in the United States but could not find a television company interested in the idea. After Sweden finally bought the original idea, Mark Burnett went on to buy the US rights to Survivor in 1998, but was turned down multiples times by CBS, ABC, UPN and NBC. For some reason, CBS asked for another appeal at the show, and the first American installation of Survivor went into production for its first season in Borneo. Survivor's first season was filmed in Borneo in April and March of 2000 and was first aired soon thereafter in May through August of the same year. Audiences immediately grabbed onto the show, and clamored for another season.
Filming for the second season started immediately. Survivor: The Australian Outback was aired from October 2001-January 2002, and by this point Survivor frenzy was well underway. Survivor: Africa was shot and aired in the same year as the Australian Outback. Interestingly enough, Survivor was slated to be filmed on location in Jordan for season Survivor: Arabia. However, after the September 11 tragedy in 2001 Mark Burnett chose to cancel filming in Jordan and had to immediately find a new location for the season. Further seasons have been filmed in: the Marquesas Islands, Thailand, the Amazon, the Pearl Islands, Vanuatu, Palau, Guatemala, Panama, and the latest installation of Survivor: Cook Islands will be aired in September of 2006.

The premise of the show features anywhere between 16-20 strangers who become stranded together in a remote location, and must find ways to build a new life from the land. The cast members are divided up into tribes and they compete against each other in two forms of challenges: immunity and reward. After the immunity challenge, the losing tribe is forced to banish one member from their own tribe. This banishment occurs in a ceremony called Tribal Council, at which tribe members cast silent votes for the member who they think should leave. Obviously, the individual who won the Immunity Challenge is safe for another week on the show. The reward challenge is based on endurance, skill, problem-solving abilities or other criteria and allows the cast members to win luxury-type items to make their stay more enjoyable and comfortable. Examples of luxury items have included: food, matches, tarps and tools, and have been used to catapult the comfort and endurance of the cast members.

Hell's Kitchen On Fox

Hell’s Kitchen, a cooking-based reality television show, is most known for its crass and cacophonous British chef Gordon Ramsay. The US version of Hell's Kitchen follows in the footsteps of the UK television series, the original Hell’s Kitchen,which was broadcast in the UK in 2004. The first American season (the show is now in its second season) premiered on FOX in 2005, with Season Two premiering in June of 2006. It has since been announced that a third season of the show will air on FOX in the Summer of 2007.

The premise of the show features twelve contestants (with restaurant experience ranging from executive chef to waiter) who are competing to own their own "million dollar restaurant". The contestant group features men and women of all ages, some who have been cooking in top American restaurants and others who have been cooking only for their families. Friction and drama occurs largely based upon this wide range of experience and dueling egos, but is also exacerbated by the rages and incessant insults doled out by head chef Ramsay.

As with the British show, the contestants are divided up into a red team and the blue team and compete in a series of cooking challenges, ranging from creating a five-course meal from last evening’s leftovers to setting the perfect five-star restaurant table in the smallest amount of time.
Each week, the best member from the losing team during the latest service period ("best" as determined by Ramsay) is asked to nominate two of their fellow teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Gordon Ramsay.

The second season of Hell’s Kitchen featured two teams divided by gender. The winner was promised an executive chef position at the billion dollar Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino, as well as a financial interest in the restaurant.

Despite its popularity, critics and audiences alike have panned the show, citing that the drama is based solely on Ramsay's insults and his ability to humiliate both contestants and restaurant patrons.