American Idol is a Joke

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The whole pop star thing–at least via American Idol–is largely a pipe dream now for new winners and contestants.  Yes, back during its primary heyday Kelly Clarkson sold plenty of albums and the trend [mostly] continued until Carrie Underwood.  Ever since then, each winner has yet to experience the sales success so many have previously enjoyed. Continue reading »

I’d Rather See You Bare Your Soul

Whitney Houston has been making the headlines for her triumphs as well as for nearly drop kicking her comeback efforts with a less than stellar performance on Good Morning America.  Oh yeah and then there’s I Look to You, her first new album of original material since 2002’s Just Whitney.

I Look to You has so far garnered generally positive reviews but many reviewers have singled out one notable aspect: rarely does Whitney actually address the ups and downs that caused her image and career to nosedive.  In the end, we’re left with a satisfying and certainly welcoming comeback that does little to shed any new light on Whitney Houston aside from hearing her now slightly huskier voice again.

These reviews got me thinking of Britney Spears.  Britney has built a successful career out of using her sex appeal, dance moves and the right team of producers to craft appealing pop music.  And still, we have yet to know anything about Britney except for her public meltdowns and that one heartbreaking moment when she broke down in tears and admitted she was “sad” in her “Britney: For the Record” documentary.

Madonna once told Britney “I’d rather see you bare your soul” (see: “Me Against the Music”) but even now after the release of Circus,  we don’t know very much about Britney Spears except for the all the names people use to refer to her as she stated on “Piece of Me’”.

Being a confessional singer/musician doesn’t necessarily have to translate into a sacrifice of album sales.  Madonna proved this when she released the deeply personal Ray of Light album back in 1998.  Tori Amos may not appear on the radio nor achieve major sales figures anymore but most people will agree that her songs like “Me and a Gun” are amazing pieces of music.  Below is the video for Madonna’s “Drowned World / Substitute for Love” video which was not released here in the states.

Perhaps the current pop music landscape simply doesn’t allow music artists to say how they really feel.  After all, Kelly Clarkson tried it and nobody cared.  Mariah Carey may not necessarily fall under the category of pop music but I question why a woman who’s now pushing forty can’t release something a bit more mature than a song where she feels the need to attack Eminem (see: “Obsessed”).  Did she forget about the tremendous success she enjoyed with “We Belong Together”?

I can thoroughly enjoy a frothy pop song as much as the next person but is getting personal in pop music a surefire way of obliterating any remote chance of getting radio airplay?  I always thought that music was at least partially about discovering songs that you can identify with and often reflect your own life experiences.

The Politics of Pop Music

Recently Kelly Clarkson was in the news again for making comments regarding the release of “Already Gone”, the third single off of her All I Ever Wanted album.

By now most people are very well aware of the similarities between “Already Gone” and Beyonce’s “Halo” which isn’t that strange since both songs were written by Ryan Tedder.  Having listened to both songs myself and watching a few videos on YouTube where the songs are compared, both songs do sound very much alike as seen in this fascinating video mashup interpretation of sorts by Nick Pitera.

I’m aware that Kelly has developed a reputation for her outspokenness, at least if her comments regarding the release of her underwhelming “My December” album are anything to go by.  But are they really necessary?

If you’re a pop singer who has professional songwriters creating songs for you to put on your album, then you have very little room to complain when one of these pseudo song factories releases a product similar to a previous “model”.  If Kelly Clarkson doesn’t want her music sounding like someone else’s, perhaps she she should upgrade from co-writer to full fledged songwriter and take the do-it-yourself approach like some other female musicians have.

This mini fiasco is similar to when Paris Hilton and Haylie Duff had that small issue over a song called “Screwed”.  It was supposed to appear on Haylie Duff’s debut album but Paris recorded it and well, for better or worse Paris (the album) didn’t do much better than what Haylie Duff’s album would’ve done.  The politics of pop music vividly at work right there.

It’s true that Kelly already tried to handle things largely on her own and met with less than anticipated sales, although I wonder if that was partially due to the dark/somber material on My December or her decision to bite the hand that fed her and speak out against Clive Davis.  So whether or not it was her decision to go back to radio friendly pop music in order to spur sales, there’s no point in denouncing the people who are helping you to stay relevant and keeping you on the radio.

Ryan Tedder may have committed a slight pop faux pas by writing  two songs that share similarities but at the end of the day it’s still a song with its merits.  I enjoy “Already Gone” as much as I do “Halo” and they each conjure different messages and emotions.  Instead of complaining, Kelly Clarkson should embrace the fact that contemporary songwriters with proven hits (see: “Bleeding Love”) are willing to work with her and supply her with music that helps her pay the bills and stay on the radio.