March 29, 2007Why Sanjaya Malakar will not win American Idol
Filed Under: Communal Marketing
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The world is all a-twitter with the demonic rise of Sanjaya Malakar in this season of American Idol. Lately all the talk has been about his hair, but really the story here is about the fact he's been the weakest link for week's on end and yet somehow stays in the competition.
The secret is not his over the top hairdos. And it's not his smile either. Or the fact that every week he becomes more Michael Jackson-ish (weird) It's the "power of us". Its Vote for the Worst.
[update: I've been asked to remove the screenshot from VFTW; I'm not sure why and I'm trying to get to the bottom of this]
"One vote cast for Sanjaya is a vote against Simon" was one of the quotes in 3 (count 'em) articles in USA Today which asked the question for the first time, "could he actually win this thing?"
Suddenly MSM wakes up to realize that the very voting mechanism that is set up to democratize (read: mask and hide the DIRT CHEAP, artificial and seamless creation of a pop idol, whilst selling advertising at the same time - how sweet is that!!!!!????) the process, may very well bring it down.
In fact, many people believe that if Sanjaya won the whole thing, this would cripple the whole AI franchise.
The articles go on to single out VFTW and Howard Stern as being responsible for keeping Sanjaya in, but its really VFTW. Howard Stern does not have the audience (or influence) he once had....this is all about the many-to-many.
Rest assured, he won't win the competition. Although Sanjaya is enjoying his charmed life, the Wisdom of Crowds will prevail as soon as the numbers get manageable enough to counter the voting fragmentation. At the end of the day, talent will shine (go Blake!!!) and Clive Davis will get his boy/girl.
...but along the way, it sure is fun to see Simon Cowell squirming. He said it best last night (paraphrased), "at this point there's really nothing we can say that's going to make a difference. If America wants you in, good luck to them"
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Comments
I'm really gald you wrote about this Joseph, because there's a lot of relevance here for your readers.
I actually think there's a lot of similarity between votefortheworst -which seems to be a little reviled in the media - and Bum Rush The Charts - which was the darling of the Twitterati. Both complain about the tyranny of the record industry, promoting a narrow range or manufactured music to gain profit for themselves and mass media, when there's a much greater choice out there. Both try to utilize the power of the masses to change a vote or chart, to subvert it in a high profile way. Both suggest you do so by voting with your phone or wallet for a musician, who's talent good or bad, is somewhat irrelevant to the outcome. The important thing is the message it sends.
I urge everyone who supported BTRC to equally support Sanjaya Malakar, for exactly the same reasons.
Posted by: Steve Coulson
VFTW has finally found it's star. The flaw with the site is that it originally picked Sundance Head and another contestant to get behind. However, since they got voted off, they turned their attention to another contestant, Sanjaya. They seem to do this every year with this site as it isn't new. With that said, is VFTW really making a difference in the voting if all of VFTW original supporters failed to make the final 12?
Posted by: Kevin
Hopefully this Malakar person will win, to the horror of the producers, and they'll put an end to the show so I don't have to watch this crap during the evening NEWS. There are far more important topics for us to discuss.
Posted by: John
I see this as broadcast media's welcome to "consumers own the brand" and true consumer collaboration in product development.
This time, the brand is AI. Consumers are deciding whose album they want AI to produce.
This is the same crowd that'll be helping Frito-Lay decide which flavor chip to develop in a few years.
My inner rebel loves it. My outer interactive marketer likes it, too.
Personally, I hate the show...can't stand the music...but I can't wait to see how the AI brand reacts to it.
Will Sanjaya tour differently? Will his album be released differently? Who knows...but how the brand responds to this consumer feedback will determine whether or not the brand survives.
Oh, and Joseph...I disagree that Howard Stern doesn't have much influence. Think about the 5 million subscribers that listen to him (my estimate, out of something like 6 million). But these are ENGAGED listeners. So engaged, they pay 13 bucks/month for something they used to get for free. And they're evangelists who tell other people about the show.
I think he's been a big part of this, along with the VFTW website.
bender
Posted by: bender
I think VFTW is offering some serious competition to AI. They recently announced this additional cell feature that encourages users to text votes for Sanjaya even they aren't watching. You can see it here: http://votefortheworst.com/node/217 I also heard AI fans hacked the VFTW site today. Things are getting pretty heated.
Posted by: Sam
These so-called reality shows are crap, poorly edited and written. If you feed the American public junk food every day, eventually they will demand something different. I love that Howard Stern is messing with Idol. I hope he shows up to the final show as Fartman and farts in the producers' faces. http://www.atomfilms.com/film/fartman_caught.jsp
Posted by: tmwts5
Honestly... this blog is turning more and more into a housewives destination for all things mundane. First it was weightloss and now Idol.
I would bet that the AI organisers would LOVE the controversy of one untalented person winning over another untalented person. I think they are probably BEHIND the VFTW movement. Have you seen the ratings and participation rates recently.
Well done, 19 Entertainment. You are the ones that really rule!
Posted by: deepsigh
Deepsigh or is it throat? If you can't see the marketing in both Fatblogging and Sanjaya/VFTW, I'm going to have to come over there and rough you up good and proper!
Posted by: jJ
Thought you might appreciate this. Unfortunately, the girl has been instructed by her doctor not to continue, but it is gaining some steam anyway. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDviPoXJl28
Posted by: Kevin
i do not want sanjaya malakar to win on american idol because he can not sing worth a mess . he does not look like a american idol winner. he is stupid . i think chris richardson blake lewis or jordin sparks.they can sing better than sanjaya malakar he has no talant.he is very ugly chris richardson and blake lewis look better than sanjaya malakar.
Posted by: jordan costilow
The producers of American Idol, including Simon (who is the creator of American Idol) are not stupid. If they suspect external forces are potentially influencing bad decisions to be made, they can and will alter the rules to allow the judges to actually have a direct impact upon whether a contestant proceeds to the next show or not.
Posted by: whatsupdoc
Check out what I think for this years American Idol at
http://www.who-will-win-american-idol.com/
Matt
Posted by: Matthew
