Pop Culture In the Global

POP CULTURE IN THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT2006

Popular culture (the study of which is a fairly recent phenomenon ) is the study of how people 's attitudes , morals and mores are affected by how they amuse themselves . Popular culture affects us in various ways be it how we vote , how we think , how we feel , how we live our lives it 's all around us . There are different kinds of popular culture ranging from sports , film , music , television , advertising , fashion , magazines comic books and cyberculture

The popular television singing competition "American Idol " has become

br a barometer of American popular culture

The impact here in the US

Every week about 30 to 35 million people tune in to watch the show . And it doesn 't end there it is written about in print media , spoken about on radio and viewed on television , has a major presence on the internet by way of blogs , websites , streaming media showing clips from the show interviews and the like . CDs are sold of the top idol performers and concerts are organized all over the country . It has proved to be all- pervasive

To indicate how embedded "Idol " is in American popular culture the show 's host Ryan Seacrest announced during the finale on May 24 that over 63 million votes were cast "more than any president in the history of our country has received " A comment which has invoked a flurry of discussion on whether values are misplaced and whether voting in elections should not include the option of the voting format on the show (phone or text messaging

A lot of well known singers are now jumping on the marketing bandwagon as the show presents an excellent vehicle for showcasing their new offerings . Studies have even shown that record sales for these artistes have jumped after each appearance on the show

The impact abroad

The "American Idol " franchise began in England with "Pop Idol and has now become an international brand with its format reproduced in more than 30 versions in different countries and languages as proof of its cultural homogenization . This should come as no surprise since television 's ability to disseminate worldwide usually assists this cultural commonality

While different countries have their own versions of this franchise , the flagship product is viewed anywhere from Israel to Iceland to Japan Some countries like Croatia and Germany will only show their homegrown versions "Hrvatski Idol " and "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar respectively . While in other countries like Iceland , fans can watch both "Idols- Stjornuleit " and "American Idol . Same goes for Malaysia where viewers have the pick of either "Malaysian Idol " or the U .S . import or both

"American Idol " is shown in about 20 markets via terrestrial broadcasting . A Asia and the Middle East are reached albeit 48 hours later . As a result of the delayed broadcast , international viewers cannot vote by phoning in or sending text messages but this doesn 't seem to have affected viewership

Marketers of the "Idol " brand would rather not discuss the revenue numbers but according to one report , the figure is in the range of 1 billion a year . This yield is comprises revenues from advertising license fees , merchandising and recording revenues

While 30 to 35 million viewers tune in weekly and have made "American Idol " the top-rated U .S . show , is a more difficult to measure viewership abroad . However , considering that the series is being renewed continually , viewership cannot be a problem . The response , however varies from one country to the other . For example , in South Africa , the local version airs on pay TV thereby putting out of the reach of the typical viewer . There are no worries of this in Asia where the series is a widespread hit and in Malaysia which has a population of 26 million , about 1 .6 million votes were cast for the second season 's finale last September

Positive and negative outcomes

On a WNYC Radio broadcast , on the 23rd of May , 2006 , Robert Thompson director of Syracuse University 's Center for the Study of Popular Television alluded to the fact that the show has its roots embedded in a long tradition of amateur talent contests at Vaudeville and `Open Mike at the Apollo . Because of its family friendly format , it has a broad appeal across the almost entire spectrum of age brackets from young children to seniors

He goes further to say that American Idol ' took the old fashioned notion of a talent search and overlaid this with wry irony (courtesy Simon Cowell , one of the judges on the show . The latter being the element of danger that separated American Idol ' from the likes of Arsenio Hall 's Star Search . He even went as far as to rate the show a bi-polar series by saying it was actually 2 different shows in one The first part is the lead-in auditions to pick the top 48 , involving salacious attacks at the expense of sometimes vulnerable contestants The objective of the second part of the show is to pick the top 12 participants and tends to be more old-fashioned

On the same WNYC Radio broadcast , Katherine Meizel , a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of California at Santa Barbara spoke about how it embraces the notion of failure . She draws a parallel between a third season contestant on the show , William Hung , and the Horatio Alger story . She also refers to the book `Born Losers : A History of Failure in America ' by Scott A . Sandage in which Florence Foster Jenkins is mentioned as an example . The book is about a history of artists creating success from failure and how ambition is rewarded rather than success . The infamous William Hung gave a sub par rendition of Ricky Martin 's song `She Bangs . After that he was quoted as saying `I already gave my best . I have no regrets at all . This led to a to an American Idol special : `Uncut , Uncensored Untalented ' a trajectory to stardom and his first album debut in the Billboard Top 40

Conclusion

The first winner on the show , Kelly Clarkson , won two Grammy Awards in 2006 as proof that the show does produce pop idols . This may just be the stamp of authenticity that the show needed

The show has obviously has worldwide appeal enjoyed by both young and old and is beginning to affect the way we vote . It is also a great marketing vehicle for artistes to boost record sales . On the flip side is it a way to our 15 minutes of fame at all cost

References

1 . Professor T . V . Reed , Popular Culture : Resources for Critical Analysis , HYPERLINK "http /www .wsu .edu amerstu /pop /tvrguide .html http /www .wsu .edu amerstu /pop /tvrguide .html (2002

2 . Associated Press 'American Idol ' Not Just for Americans Anymore HYPERLINK "http /www .foxnews .com /story /0 ,2933 ,196537 ,00 .html http /www .foxnews .com /story /0 ,2933 ,196537 ,00 .html (Tuesday , May 23 2006

3 . Robert Thompson , Katherine Meizel , American Idol Worship , WNYC New York Public Radio , HYPERLINK "http /www .wnyc .org /shows /soundcheck /episodes /2006 /05 /24 http /www .wnyc .org /shows /soundcheck /episodes /2006 /05 /24 (May 23 9 :09 PM

4 . Conrad

. Kottak , Of Cultural Import : Television 's Impact on Values and Local Life in Brazil

Journal of Communication , Vol . 41 , 1991

5 . Colin Walters , The Unique Liberalism of Isaiah Berlin , The Washington Times , May 26 , 1996

6 . M . Thomas Inge , Handbook of American Popular Culture Vol .1 , Greenwood Press , 1978

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