Topic: American Idol

Rock the Vote on American Idol

So here's a disclaimer: I'm not an American Idol fan. I actually believe American Idol brings out the worst in America and the worst Americans. But all this fuss about Sanjaya Malakar and whether he should or should not win the ...READ»

American Idol Season 9

In its eighth season, the television juggernaut that is American Idol brought in an incredible $850 mil-lion in advertising revenue and attracted a Nielsen-topping 27 million viewers per episode. The bad news: Ad revenue was ...READ»

"Idol" Empire Shares Fortune

If you weren't one of the 30 million people that typically tune into "American Idol" every week, then maybe you will be pleasantly surprised to hear that the show's executives are giving back some of their good fortune. Finally. For ...READ»

Controlling the Conversation

Ever think about why American Idol is so popular? I have, and I suspect that it's because the program's very premise is that the viewers control the story line. More or less, that is. In reality, like a lot of other brands, American ...READ»

Are Self-Publishing Companies "Cheating" by Removing the Hurdles to Get Your Books Published Faster?

Are self-publishing writers really “cheating,” or are they simply taking advantage of widespread changes taking place throughout the entertainment and business worlds. Check out... READ»

The Anti-Inventiveness of "American Inventors"

So, tonight is the premier of "American Inventor," brought to you by the zeitgeist-tappers responsible for "American Idol." Here, the reality TV aesthetic meets Ralph Waldo Emerson, who famously encouraged our national creative ...READ»

Controlling the Conversation

Ever think about why American Idol is so popular? I have, and I suspect that it's because the program's very premise is that the viewers control the story line. More or less, that is. In reality, like a lot of other brands, American ...READ»

American Idol's PR Stumble

Even if you stopped tuning in to 'American Idol' after the unimpressive album sales of its recent winners began to give the show's title a slightly paradoxical quality, you most likely came across Paula Abdul's name in yesterday's ...READ»

Simon Says

OK, so I admit it. I'm an American Idol junkie (though not as much as I was two weeks ago, before my two favorites, Nadia and Anwar, got the boot). But when I rehash the show with the two or three other people in my age group who ...READ»

Judging Talent by Watching American Idol

Are you truly talented or are you putting on a show? READ»

American Idol Comes to Internet Ad Campaigns

Check out this site from Eurostar, the Channel Tunnel train. Now that consumers are collectively choosing the next pop star and the kind of wedding dress a bride should wear in her wedding (the Today Show's wedding stunts), why ...READ»

What Do Glenn Beck and American Idol Have In Common?

With consumer outrage at financial institutions egregious misconduct, there has been a renewed attitude about good vs. evil. This polarization has reflected in pop culture with such films as Monsters VS Aliens and web sensations like Red VS. Blue. However, the top TV shows of 2009 illustrate that it's more complicated than just black and white, good vs. evil -- everyone has their own winner. Increasingly, we want get behind "our guy or girl" and cheer them on. The Cheers and Jeers trend is about being passionate and getting behind people...READ»

And Now A Word From Our Sponsors

Its funny how everything old is one day new again. Akin to the Johnny Carson days of old, television talk show hosts are communicating sponsors product information directly to their audience. As audiences continue to be battered and ...READ»

The Office: Ratings Report

The incomparable Programming Insider, Marc Berman, at Mediaweek, has the overnight ratings: The Office won the 9:30 p.m. half-hour with a 9.7/14 in the overnights and a 5.0/13 among adults 18-49 (and a second-place 11.27 million ...READ»

American Idol and Dooce Give Power to the People

You’ve probably heard the news that American Idol garners more votes than the presidential election. While there are some factors to consider in this situation – age, number of times to vote, etc. – there’s something to be said about the power of choice given to audiences. Just a few decades ago, audience participation may have been considered yelling out to the TV, with no opportunity to give feedback or have any…READ»

Where to advertise

I just spoke to a group of motorcycle dealers, and the number one question on their minds was "Where should I be investing my advertising dollars?" The first question you have to answer is: "Who do I want to talk ...READ»

LiveMansion: An Unfortunate Attempt at a Movie

Last night I went to an event hosted by Ckrush, an entertainment company, at Pressure Bar near Union Square. The company is developing a horror movie, LiveMansion: The Movie, using the American Idol model of doing business. While in ...READ»

What to do with the parents

In many discussions with the experts on Generation Y, stories have come up about the mom who called her son's boss because her son got a bad performance review. Seriously? Alas, it is true. Gen-Y may be made up of young adults who ...READ»

Datebook

Critical calendar listings for February 2005.READ»

Atlantic City Welcomes The American Idols Live In Concert at the Boardwalk Hall

The 2009 American Idols will be performing live, in concert, at The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The best selection of tickets is on sale now through ACTickets.com. The American Idols will be performing Friday August 7th.READ»

The Branson Called You

Richard Branson, the high-energy CEO of Virgin, has signed on with Fox to develop a new reality TV show. Like the business moguls Mark Cuban and Donald Trump before him, Branson will challenge contestants to overcome a series of ...READ»

Culture

Anne Every morning as I read another dreary story of greed-head corporate malfeasance and insider arrogance, I remember two of my favorite pieces of satire. One is a comedy sketch starring Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live, where ...READ»

iJango Idaho

Ijango Registration For nine weeks now, I've been meaning to write this column, but I kept getting distracted by stuff like the Keyboard Cat and Pretty Ricky's latest round of furniture-humping histrionics. And that's somewhat fitting, given that this column is about Cobra Starship, a band that has turned messing around on the Internet into an absolute art form. READ»

11 Facebook Applications That Were Built to Fail

Ever since Facebook opened up its application service to third-party developers, the site has been littered with applications; some great, some good, some bad, and some really, really bad. READ»

• 11 of the Worst Facebook Applications
• A Look Behind Facebook's New Design
• Mark Zuckerberg: Hacker. Dropout. CEO.

The Latest in Office Furniture

From Britain comes the story of a new ordinance which will not allow workers at the Health and Safety Office to move their own furniture, even if only to rearrange it slightly for a staff meeting. Employees must contact ...READ»