American Idol
Lifestyle
On American Idol and All That Drama
6:06:00 AM
o·rig·i·nal
adj.
1. Preceding all others in time; first.
Take note of that definition.
While watching American Idol Season 11, I have came to a reflection about different artists and musicians. Each artist is different in his or her own way. That is why he or she is called an artist. If we continue comparing each artist to another like asking "Who sing it better or whose version is best?," then we are like telling these artists to sound alike, play alike, and make music alike when in the first place they are meant to be different. It's not really about who sang it first or who sang it better. I believe being a musician is farther than that.
o·rig·i·nal
n.
3. Productive of new things or new ideas; inventive: an original mind.
Now, take a look at another definition above. Aren't some contestants like Colton Dixon inventive and original as well when he sang "Everything"? Or could Phillip Phillips owned version of "Beggin'" pass as "original" like Mad Con's? Though Dixon and Phillips were not the songs' original artists, by that second definition above their renditions could be called original because they were inventive enough to put some of their flavor into the song. And that's what artists should be, right?
Moreover, there were some episodes in the show when the judges compared the contestants to big artists. This had me thinking, "Wait a minute, aren't they supposed to sound different?" When Randy Jackson compared Jessica Sanchez to the rock icon Queen, I thought that even though she did not own the song 100% she still had herself going on there. She got the passion to own the song in her own way. Isn't that what artists should do?
Let me show another example. When Jessica Sanchez sang a Mariah Carrey song, she almost had the right vocals but she sounded more like Mariah than a "Jessica." She only failed when she did not arrange it in a way that would sound like her.
What I'm trying to say is let's stop comparing and let the artists do their thing. If we are going to evaluate them based on their mimicry and resemblance to the original songs and artists, then we might as well have a reality show where all artists write, arrange, and sing their own songs. The truth is we cannot really push them to sound like somebody they're not.
Similarly to what Jessica said in her last song, we should "Change nothing" about them and let them own the songs they sing. That is the only way they can be called original.
0 comments