American Idol 7: Are these auditions staged? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

alltherage · 01-16-2008, 03:36 PM

I was watching the season opener of American Idol last night, and noticed that the new auditions seem fake. Sure, there are some legitimate hopefulls on there, like the black daughter of the morbidly obese woman and all, but there are a few that seemed really fake.

Example 1 - The black guy with the gap in his teeth that talked like Borat. He said a girl called him a "sexy face" and then said she was hot from her "hair" to her "nipple" with some hesitation as where he was going. He was clearly ripping off the whole Borat thing IMO.

Example 2 - The sparkly girl who was all pissed at Simon. First of all, he didn't say anything that brutal to her. In fact, they were all pretty nice and let her down easy. She wasn't even THAT bad, other than she had no volume control. They said she belonged in a band, which she seemed to actually take constructively. Then, out of the blue after the door closed she kept going off about how "F- Simon" and "I want to finger the camera" and all that crap... it was terrible acting IMO. Not only that, look at how uncomfortable Seacrest looked. He looked like he knew it was fake.

Do these people just go on and fake it to get on TV? Or is this a calculated move on AI's part to increase ratings? Or, is it just me?

Either way, the only funny or entertaining part of the show is now watered down by actors exploiting what was originally funny in the first place. Bah! What are your opinions?

Clever_Iggy · 01-16-2008, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alltherage

IDo these people just go on and fake it to get on TV? Or is this a calculated move on AI's part to increase ratings?

A little of both. The past several American Idols have had such ridiculous auditions, you know they were not only staged, but the fact that American Idol producers (a) put them on the air and (b) make a "Best/Worst Of" special to air at the end of the season suggests strongly that they are all for it.

I dont know if they would go as far as supplying the brutal auditions, but that's because I dont think they have to - enough people want their 15 seconds of fame.

troutman · 01-16-2008, 03:42 PM

Rumor has it one of Igor Larionov's daughters, makes it to Hollywood.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...15009/-1/print

Unofficial reports on the Internet -- it's a closely guarded secret; Fox officials won't comment -- have one or both of Igor Larionov's daughters trying out for "American Idol" and making it to the Hollywood portion of the show.

Jason14h · 01-16-2008, 03:45 PM

The get to pick from 100,000 people. I'm sure it's not that hard to find a few nutcases

Buff · 01-16-2008, 03:50 PM

It is all about ratings. If they find an interesting story (the girl whose daughter has a rhetts syndrome) or if it is somebody looking like an idiot (whether they are clueless or intentionally doing it) then AI will find time to air it. Their hopes is that somebody will see somebody that they want to follow (not stalk) or just gain an interest in the show. There are many people who watch the first few weeks of the show just to see the train wreck auditions and I wouldn't be surprised of some of those people kept watching because they saw something that caught their attention.

I watch the auditions, and the only season I fully watched was when Carrie Underwood won. That year there were a few people who I took interest in and I got hooked on the show. (it probably helped that that was the season the NHL was locked out).

FiftyBelow · 01-16-2008, 04:01 PM

I knew a friend who went through the Canadian Idol process... she was actually quite close to making it. Most people never actually audition in front of the 3 main judges. Usually they are screened by people such as producers and people behind the scenes involved with the show. My friend went through 3 levels of screening before she was turned away. Turns out if she made it through the last, she would have seen the actual judges next. As most already know, the auditions pretty much just show the extremes... many of whom aren't serious about singing but are rather attention addicts.

Buff · 01-16-2008, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FiftyBelow

I knew a friend who went through the Canadian Idol process... she was actually quite close to making it. Most people never actually audition in front of the 3 main judges. Usually they are screened by people such as producers and people behind the scenes involved with the show. My friend went through 3 levels of screening before she was turned away. Turns out if she made it through the last, she would have seen the actual judges next. As most already know, the auditions pretty much just show the extremes... many of whom aren't serious about singing but are rather attention addicts.

That makes sense. I can't see Simon, Paula and Randy sitting through all 100,000 auditions over the course of 2 days. Have a crew to determine who has talent or who may have talent to be judged by Simon, Paula and Randy, and also filter through the people who could make good train wreck tv.

blankall · 01-16-2008, 04:11 PM

I know three people who've made it to the toronto portion of the Canadian idol. I also vacationed at a resort w/ one of the former winners. They say that everything is definitely real.

What they do is screen everyone initially first though. They then pick some people who are really bad and falsely encourage them so they make fools of themselves when they get to the televised judge stage. A large part of why they believe they are going to make it and seem so confident is the screeners encouraging them.

The whole process is kind of cruel, but it keeps people entertained and makes money so it will probably continue. That being said I have watched bits of a few audition shows.... well becauas it's entertaining.

Madman · 01-16-2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alltherage

Example 1 - The black guy with the gap in his teeth that talked like Borat. He said a girl called him a "sexy face" and then said she was hot from her "hair" to her "nipple" with some hesitation as where he was going. He was clearly ripping off the whole Borat thing IMO.

Example 2 - The sparkly girl who was all pissed at Simon. First of all, he didn't say anything that brutal to her. In fact, they were all pretty nice and let her down easy. She wasn't even THAT bad, other than she had no volume control. They said she belonged in a band, which she seemed to actually take constructively. Then, out of the blue after the door closed she kept going off about how "F- Simon" and "I want to finger the camera" and all that crap... it was terrible acting IMO. Not only that, look at how uncomfortable Seacrest looked. He looked like he knew it was fake.

Both were totally fake and weren't even remotely funny. It was funny about 5 years ago when there was the odd nut job, but now 90% of the people trying out are just trying to be asses and get on TV - the sad part is they keep putting them on TV.

The other goofy thing was the fake auditions that CTV was playing before this season started. They didn't even have an American Idol logo, they had a logo that looked very similar and used the same font, but just said "Auditions".

GreenLantern · 01-16-2008, 04:18 PM

The Borat guy was fake, I am certain of that, the Sparkle girl wasn't. She was just crazy lol. "IM GOING INTO ACTRESSING!!" omg..

They are just feeding into the hype is all, they know people love this stuff and they know that some people ONLY watch the beginning episodes just to see this stuff. I rather enjoyed the little back stories they did on some of the more interesting characters.

foofighter15 · 01-16-2008, 04:37 PM

i think the freak shows are put on by the producers and the judges just play along. So glad I don't watch that show

J pold · 01-16-2008, 04:50 PM

I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire show was staged...

SportsJunky · 01-16-2008, 05:15 PM

Did anyone see the young lady from Oregon? Dayum!

Ice · 01-16-2008, 05:31 PM

Yeah, she was cute and that shirt she was wearing was adorable.

CrusaderPi · 01-16-2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ice

Yeah, she was cute and that shirt she was wearing was adorable.

I'd said it looked quite becoming on her...

StrayBullet · 01-16-2008, 09:18 PM

If anyone is watching..... These people are terrible right now. So awesome.

Hack&Lube · 01-16-2008, 09:47 PM

They are not staged. What happens is that AI actually screens everybody first, it's not like how they pretend it is with Randy, Simon, and Paula hearing everybody.

They screen them for wackos, get the backstory and interviews on the wackos and basically send 50% wackos into see the judges for airing on TV on purpose. Most of the people that actually sing well (unless it's interesting) are not shown on TV until the later serious rounds.

The audition round is just the freakshow for FOX and that's how they get ratings. You know that a lot of the of people that show up for something like American Idol auditions are somewhat unstable or socially misaligned anyway, it's just the demographic and the nature of the show in the U.S. and the huge population.

ricosuave · 01-16-2008, 09:53 PM

hmmm, reality based television being staged somewhat? nahhh, couldn't be...

stang · 01-16-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrusaderPi

I'd said it looked quite becoming on her...

... well of course if I were on her I would becoming too...

Burninator · 01-16-2008, 10:03 PM

Reality TV is so contrived these days that they shouldn't get away with calling it reality.

Besides American Idol is as much looking for "musical talent" and "the next superstar" as the bachelor/bachelorette shows are looking for true love.