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THE POLITICS OF POP CULTUREMmm, Eggs (American Idol Spanks Josiah Leming, Lazlo)
Posted February 14th, 2008 in All, Entertainment, Music and TV Moment of the Weak
Now how am I going to fit this foot in my mouth, too?
Ok, ok, maybe declaring Josiah Leming the winner of American Idol before the judges had even finished selecting contestants was a bit, what shall we call it, premature? Overly optimistic? Asinine? Ah yes, that’s the one.
In case you’re the one who didn’t watch last night’s final selections, uh, he got cut. So I’ll be eating these eggs on my face for a while. But I have faith (also known as the triumph of hope over experience). I saw magic. I don’t think I’m alone in that. So I’ll go ahead and find room for the heel, double or nothing style. Here we go…
Lazlo’s official prediction:
- Producer with Label X hears Leming on the show;
- Producer with Lable X recognizes that Leming doesn’t have the personality and/or maturity to spend the next two years touring with a gaggle of wannabe pop sensations anyway;
- Producer with Label X values serious talent (read $$$) over sanity;
- Producer with Label X assigns Leming a babysitter and signs the everlovin’ crap out of the kid;
- X releases album which has far greater artistic integrity than anything any other A.I. (spooky, in’t it?) contestant has released;
- Leming and Lazlo are redeemed!
(Fortunately for me, I have not a shred of credibility to lose. If you don’t either, perhaps we’ll meet again on Leming’s MySpace page or Zimbio.)
Josiah Leming Performs Mika’s “Grace Kelly,” Awes Simon Cowell
Posted February 13th, 2008 in All, Commentary, Entertainment, Music and TV Moment of the WeakHere is our promised follow-up to yesterday’s post declaring Josiah Leming the winner of all seven seasons of American Idol, at least as far as we’re concerned. If you have any interest in his back story, and it’s pretty interesting, watch the whole video. While the other contestants are preening and primping, Josiah has the starry-eyed look of an 18 year old who has spent the last two years living out of his car, and now finds himself sleeping on a real live bed, with sheets and everything.
If you’re not interested in his back story, just fast forward to his performance on stage. Make sure to take note of the glint in Simon’s eyes, which means a great deal more than the smile on his face. Meanwhile Paula hits the nail on the head for once, saying “You have a magical thing about you… You make people smile. You make the girls fall in love with you, you make the guys think you’re cool.”
Or as Truthiness puts it, “He left Randy sounding like Paula, Paula sounding like Simon, and Simon virtually speechless.”
THE BIRTH OF A STAR - Josiah Leming
Posted February 12th, 2008 in All, Celebrities, Entertainment, Entertainment News, Music and TV Moment of the WeakIf you live in the eastern half of the United States, you’ve likely just been introduced to a young man named Josiah Leming via ratings kraken American Idol. Josiah doesn’t consider himself homeless, though he lives out of his car. He isn’t campaigning a cause, though any cause will soon be happy to have him. What he is doing is bringing music, real music, to a stage which over the past six seasons has produced several singers, but few - if any - true artists. Season 7, which from the sound of things has more talent than the past seasons combined, has finally hit the jackpot.
It is my personal opinion that only a travesty of justice could keep Leming from running away with the win. His sound is reminiscent of a young John Lennon, but he has shown vulnerability, particularly in temperament. He overconfidently dismissed the band during his last audition before the final cut and sings with a oddly British-sounding accent (though as someone who uses the word “git” on a regular basis I am a bit loathe to judge). On the other hand, he is living under a roof for the first time in who knows how many years, he is sleep deprived, he is in a cutthroat competition, and he is barely out of the cradle. Likely the best thing that could happen to him is to be cut by the judges right now, thus freeing him to sign on with any damn label he chooses.
The producers aren’t likely to let him go, though, and for the sake of conflict they’ll probably do their best to get him to act out, and I expect he’ll be quick oblige them. He may tip his winning hand to one of several males or females likely to give him a run for his money, especially if he doesn’t learn to filter his thoughts. After all, video killed the radio star, and the fact that his experimental stage will be nationally televised may hurt him. Either way though, it’s just a matter of time before he hits a studio, and his won’t be the only life that changes.
When his performance from tonight hits the web we’ll post it. Until then, here’s a little home video:
Newsweek’s Take on the WGA Strike
Posted February 11th, 2008 in Activism, All, Entertainment and Entertainment NewsWell, Mardi Gras got in the way of some real down-home reporting on the WGA strike, which is finally winding down. Guild members are currently voting and expected to lift the restraining order which would signify the end of the official strike. Fortunately, Newsweek is there to pick up the slack.
After three-plus months on picket lines over issues of new media compensation, Hollywood scriptwriters can return to work this week pleased. They didn’t get all they wanted, but the walkout got them the most important thing of all: A stake in the future.
Never mind the percentages, fees and rerun royalties. By gaining jurisdiction over any original material Hollywood produces for the Internet, the Writers Guild of America has ensured its survival. “It’s a toe-hold; we placed a flag on the Internet,” says Charlie Craig, whose TV credits include X-Files and the Sci-Fi Channel’s Eureka, of the agreement. “We claimed part of it as our own, and that’s a gain for the future of the guild.
The studios should be pleased as well. Though they argued that paying writers for online projects would smother the new medium with financial burdens before it could really take off, the opposite may happen. By reaching this deal with the writers, the studios bet (unwittingly and against their will) that Hollywood’s talent pool can best Silicon Valley’s when it comes to content–that professional writers and producers can trump whatever your neighbor is filming and uploading to YouTube, and the studios can figure out how to make money off of it better than Google can.
The stakes are huge. According to industry projections, video streaming revenue and video downloading revenue is expected to reach $3 billion and $1 billion by 2010 and 2011, respectively. And while that’s a fraction of the revenue for entertainment as a whole, PricewaterhouseCoppers predicts that within the next five years nearly half of the total industry growth will be generated through Web and wireless technologies.
Under the new agreement, writers will earn a fixed residual amounting to roughly $1,300 for the early part of the contract’s three-year life (excluding a two- to three-week window of free usage for promotional purposes) and 2% of the distributor’s revenue in the deal’s final year. For new material, writers get $618 for dramatic programs produced for “new media” up to two minutes plus $309 for each additional minute; $360 for two-minute comedy videos, with $180 for each minute after. What’s more, new media writers get credits as well as health insurance.
Congratulations to the WGA and all who supported the many writers and other industry workers who lost wages to fight this battle. As the season premiere of LOST showed us, life is not all peaches and cream without them.
But I think I speak for most of us when I say Thank God they didn’t push it past football season.
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