Art Imitates Life: The Idol “Mosh Pit” for sorority girls only, but AI has gone “green”

The New York Times delved into Idol realm this week describing what is, essentially the most “staged” of all reality TV. Big surprise, but here are a few interesting tidbits.

“At the end of every performance you will stand on your feet.” That is one of the commandments offered by Cory Almeida, the indefatigable warm-up man who exhorts and instructs the audience for 15 minutes before each performance and during the numerous commercial breaks.

The audience too looks expansive on television, but the hall includes only 12 rows of seats, four at floor level and eight in bleachers.

The perk is a recruitment tool for some sororities [at UCLA] as well. “We sometimes talk about this at rush,” said Courtney Lauwereins, a member from Laguna Beach, Calif. “Join Alpha Phi, and you might get to go to American Idol. ”

The show, of course, does not just throw a bevy of sorority women in front of the cameras and allow them to cluster as they may. Stage assistants choose specific women and place them where the hand-held cameras will swoop during performances.

Print journalists, are generally consigned to the back row of the bleachers, where, thankfully for viewers, they are well out of camera range.

I knew those chicks were all too blond and perky, even if it is Southern California. I’m just more frightened that college-aged girls are willing to cheer for The Chosen Eunuch. Oh, the things a person does for the slight chance of being on national television.

On a side note, American Idol is happy to announce (just in time for Earth Day), that they’ve gone green. Oh, I’m all for the environment but I’m so sick of this trendy little term. Besides just recycling tired old songs, Idol wants you to know that they use recycled paper products, make sure the lights are all turned out when nobody is in the building and naturally, are giving away a Ford Hybrid at the end of the season.

Wow. Sorority favoritism and environmental awareness. Idol’s just like college!

Is David Cook a “Ringer”?

This morning, the always quotable Fox News suggested Idol contestant David Cook is a “ringer”, since he currently has an album available for download via Amazon’s mp3 site.

The album, Analog Heart, was released in 2006 and was this weekend’s most downloaded album on the site. Fox claims this is a bit sketchy and possibly in violation of the competition’s rules. Oh, Fox News, always trying to make stories out of absolutely nothing.

Past releases from Kristy Lee Cook, Carly Smithson and Michael Johns’ former band have all been — and are currently — available on iTunes. And if I remember correctly, an independent release from 2006 winner Taylor Hicks was also available for download during Season 5.

How is this different? Maybe because no other Idol contestant has had such a sought-after previous release. Besides Amazon, Cook’s version of Always Be My Baby has also been the #1 downloaded song on iTunes for the past four days, even if Idol songs are not listed in the general Top Songs rankings.

While this may seem like “news” to some people, it’s really nothing. Some music download sites, such as Amazon and iTunes, may sound like highly-exclusive lucrative mediums, but almost anyone can make their music available for download on these services. If you checked, you are almost guaranteed to find albums released by favorite local bands and everyone in between. If I wanted to, I could probably even cut an album (or single) and release it on iTunes, which would be both ridiculous and hysterical since even my mother says I have one of the worst singing voices she has ever heard.

American Idol is not as relevant as it once was, perhaps because people have tired of it, but I think the changing music industry is more a factor. When the series debuted, you did not have MySpace and breaking unknown acts on television soundtracks was in its relative infancy . Today’s artists gain a following through the internet, video games, television and commercials. People would not know who The Fray were had it not been for Grey’s Anatomy, and it’s safe to say Death Cab for Cutie and Keane expanded their respective fanbases with exposure on The OC. And what about Apple? U2’s Vertigo was essentially released through iTunes advertising, and 1234 made Feist the musical guest on Saturday Night Live mere weeks after the song was used on an iPod commercial. Now it is almost an announcement-in-itself about which song will be used when Apple debuts a new product.

Obviously, Idol is aware of these factors since its partnership with Apple is nearly as cloying as Coca Cola’s sponsorship of the show. (Oh look at the contestants downloading music on their iPhones while preparing for next week’s performance!)

Yes, this “news” is interesting, but not for the reasons Fox News wants you to think. It’s interesting because never before has a contestant on this show generated as much interest as to pummel established artists’ downloads during the actual season, which obviously gives him the right to do his hair in any manner he so chooses. Of course, it doesn’t mean they’re not going to let him win over The Chosen Eunuch.

UPDATE: Analog Heart has since been removed from Amazon, prompting many to wonder if it isn’t a Fox-related conspiracy designed to appease Clive Davis and guarantee The Chosen Eunuch as the big winner. But does it really matter? The big “winner” of Season 5 was Chris Daughtry…and he came in fourth.