Originally Posted by beechnut79
From "American Idol" I can name two who became big stars: Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson. There may be a third, I believe his name is Lee DeWise, and he hailed from a Chicago suburb not far from where I live; that is why I am familiar with this name. That show may be the modern-day equivalent of what Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts was in its time; the show that produced Patsy Cline. Don't know for sure if any other well-known names came out of that show or not.


Lee DeWise was a JPF member and I recall him entering his CD in our Music Awards the year he was on the show, but just before, and it got eliminated early on in our process and I remember going back to listen to it to see if someone had missed something and they hadn't, it was very weak. We've had more talented members on the show, but somehow he won even though let's face it, that might have been the low point for that show and he's been the least successful winner as far as I am aware. Right place, right time. But he was never going to be a star even with that show behind him. It's why they started manipulating things especially in the early rounds (not to mention the years they flat out cheated with Paula Abdul's little boyfriend who couldn't sing a note and was removed shortly after their affair became public but I still remember them aggressively praising him even when he was complete garbage.

In the later years, it was so obviously biased and STILL they couldn't find a big success and it killed the show. Had they found more true talents, it would still be on. Simon Cowell got out before it burned down, and though the judges at the end were actually a huge improvement, the talent they were pushing through the show just sucked for the most part.

The world has changed. The eras when artists gigged for years or even decades all over the country, getting better, having real life experiences, improving their stage presence etc. are long over. There is lots and lots of raw talent out there, but corporations are neither patient nor very good at all things artistic, they only know how to squeeze every penny out of something ready to go. Now that supply is roughly a million to one over demand, there's never going to be a reason to pay these folks tons of money. It will always be powerful producers and whoever they groom in their stables going forward. It won't usually be special, but it will be well over produced.

Brian Austin Whitney
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"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney

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"Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney