I was about to participate willingly in an event only the year 2015 could bring. Flying cars? No. Walking, talking robots? I wish. How about…a Twitter battle? Yes, it's a moment like this when I know God must exist, because only a higher power could have orchestrated such a hilarious event so perfectly. There was my friend, singer Rayvon Owen, standing next to Ryan Seacrest, his fate in the hands of 13-year-old voters across America, fighting for TWEETS. After all the auditions, performances, and television circus that is American Idol, Rayvon's future would depend on the next five minutes and whether or not he got more tweets than a little boy named Daniel Seavey, a 15-year-old kid who, despite his vocal struggles and lack of experience, had also managed to make it to the Top 10 on American Idol. Is this real? Where am I? What is this life?!
I know Rayvon, and he has personality. He can be funny and silly, but he's mostly down to earth, calm, composed, and respectful. He doesn't look like Gaga and he doesn't act like Kanye. On a show that cuts great singers early in favor of the wild and zany, how did he make it through at all? It's a balancing act American Idol must play with talent vs. personalities, and fortunately, Rayvon has risen to the top on his voice and performances, going against the grain of what reality TV thrives on. In Season 6, once Sanjaya kept making it, people also started voting for him just to throw off the competition and see what Idol would do. Let's do it again, but the opposite. Vote for talent, not personalities. Vote for Rayvon!
Ross
Since this whole experience began a couple months ago, it's been the main topic of discussion among all my friends and family. Everyone has opinions, questions, and conspiracy theories about what's happening on AI. I, too, have looked for answers about what's legitimate and what's not when it comes to a competition like American Idol, and I've determined that there's a lot we'll never know or understand. But here's the first thing I know.
Rayvon should be gone by now.
Let me explain.
Since Real World began on MTV, reality TV has evolved as another step in deepening human connection through entertainment. Before 1992, TV shows had actors in a story with a script, portraying characters whom we could relate to. With the birth of reality TV, we suddenly had participants, regular folks "just like us!" who blurred the line between fantasy and reality, and brought the viewer even closer to the performer. Enter American Idol, a show that takes reality TV to the extreme, letting viewers themselves participate in the outcome through voting, a kind of "choose your own ending" TV show. Once Rayvon made it past a certain point, we all thought, "You know, he might actually have a shot to win this thing!" and we forgot all we've learned about reality TV. Then, when the most ridiculous things started happening, we all asked: WHAT!? What the heck are people voting for?
Yes, it's about entertainment, for sure. But I wanted to go deeper into reality TV at its core, and what I've learned is this: TV is personality. Especially reality TV. In his book, Remodeling TV Talent: Participation and Performance in MTV's Real World Franchise, Hugh Phillips Curnutt describes the format of AI, saying, "The talent that American Idol appears to be in search of has less to do with singing and more to do with manufacturing a celebrity persona." Songs and sound, and even talent can be crafted later. What sells on TV? Remember back to Sanjaya from Season 6, who continued to make it through each round, despite his performances leaving something to be desired in the vocal department. Sanjaya was tapping into the William Hung principle--his bad performances actually made him enjoyable to watch. The TV persona he was creating was intriguing enough for viewers to tune in and vote every week. Daniel Seavey is a better singer than Sanjaya; but who can deny that his massive following of young, mostly female fans continued to push him through each week because of his cuteness and sweet personality, not his vocal abilities? (Side note: The Voice (NBC) competition is all about the talented voices of their contestants, and they make sure to drive that point home every episode. However, their contestants struggle to break out from the show, because the focus isn't really on them, it's on the celebrity judges' personalities and how they battle it out every week. Surprise.)
I know Rayvon, and he has personality. He can be funny and silly, but he's mostly down to earth, calm, composed, and respectful. He doesn't look like Gaga and he doesn't act like Kanye. On a show that cuts great singers early in favor of the wild and zany, how did he make it through at all? It's a balancing act American Idol must play with talent vs. personalities, and fortunately, Rayvon has risen to the top on his voice and performances, going against the grain of what reality TV thrives on. In Season 6, once Sanjaya kept making it, people also started voting for him just to throw off the competition and see what Idol would do. Let's do it again, but the opposite. Vote for talent, not personalities. Vote for Rayvon!
Ross