The Silence Has Broken

Ahh, at last.

I have been waiting a while for something like this. Finally, by upping the anger on my blog just a tad in the last entry, I have warranted an extended comment criticising me. Of course, we knew it could only come from booooooo, who, as their name suggests, is constantly seeking new ways to "constructively criticise" other people's blogs, for which I am grateful. To the rest of you simply eating from the trough without discrimination, let's take a look at booooo's comments:


In response to: http://gelatigecko.blogspot.com/2008/08/judge-for-yourself.html
Dicko’s qualifications are actually that of being in the industry which involved being part of the upper management in Sony BMG. He may not be as qualified as some who have PhDs in music (Dr. L), but having experience in the record industry means that he somewhat understands the nature of the recording business.
Think about it. They’re entering a national talent search for a ‘popular’ star and it’s not a revelation that pop is very much about image.
The eventual star (and every other contestant in the top 12) will be thrust into the spotlight and will have a huge amount of media attention and criticism. If they’re so fragile that they can’t handle a little bit of (often deserved) criticism of their vocals or their ‘look’, then they’ve come to the wrong competition.
And to be perfectly honest, Dicko is probably the most reasonable judge on that panel. If you want to take down anyone, you should start on Kyle Sandilands.
P.S. Mind your usage of ’shock jocks’ - that’s more Derrin Hinch on the radio.

Well. That's put me in my place, hasn't it?

Ok. First point is valid - Dicko has experience in the industry. I was casting undue aspersions upon his legitimacy as a judge. He's there to tell if we're going to like the pop stars and buy their CDs or just pick them up, turn them over a bit, before throwing them back into the toy box. As we can obviously see the success that every other Idol has had....well, that some Idols have had...he's doing an admirable job.

The next point booooo eloquently proceeds to put forward is that they need to be able to handle criticism well, since the media is an unforgiving judgemental bitch. This is true, but if they're not going to proceed to the next round - because I'm talking about the comments dished out on people who were not going to be THE NEXT IDOL - then there is surely little need to attack them for "jiggling too much", and less need again to bother showing us their humiliation and tears.

But they show the tears, because that's what makes up a significant amount of the entertainment. The singers making the finals may be somewhat entertaining, but at the beginning, we have no assurance of musical entertainment. So instead, audiences watch, fascinated by people's tears and tantrums. And its this kind of voyeuristic television I find so uncreative and base - its basically emotion porn, and everyone is getting off on it.