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Jul 31 2009
Phil Stacey Rebuttal To Ju’Not Joyner’s Complaint That American Idol Is “Rigged”
I knew somebody from American Idol–or a person who has been on the show–would speak on Ju’Not Joyner’s remarks that Idol is “rigged.”
The person was Phil Stacey, and he put up a bulletin on his MySpace page, while promoting his new album, “Into The Light,” which hits stores on August 25. Clever…Anyway, here’s Stacey’s bulletin in its entirety (my comments follow):
Friday, July 31, 2009
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In light of today’s blogs, I’ve had several people ask me my opinion on if American Idol is rigged, so here is my two cents… .. .. If I own a restaurant, I’m not going to serve people a different dish than they wanted. It just wouldn’t be good for business. Even if I gave them a tastier dish, they wouldn’t even try it. They would DEMAND what they asked for. So if I want people to come back to my restaurant, I better give them what they ordered. .. .. It’s the same for American Idol. They aren’t going to serve you something you didn’t order. .. .. OF COURSE we’d like to think the show’s rigged! We lost! Haha… But unfortunately, in my personal experience, there is no reason to believe it is. .. .. Are the contracts reasonable? Yes. They are more than fair. In fact, I guarantee that if the contract were offered to any of my friends that are trying to break into the business, they would gladly sign it… And on a side note, all respect intended, if you “understand” the music business and “understand” how recording contracts work, become an entertainment attorney instead! There’s far better money in it! As an artist who has experienced and benefited from three major deals, I still have no idea how they work… A recording contract is full of technical jargon that is meant for lawyers… That’s why they get paid the big bucks. .. .. Are the lawyers they provide working for Idol or the contestants? They are working for us contestants. We are talking about some of the most high profile music attorneys available. In fact, I continued to work with our lawyers long after my time on American Idol had expired. Of course, we have absolutely no bargaining chips, no fan base, nothing to bring to the table and 100,00 other people who would gladly take our place, but I felt our attorneys got us a great deal! .. .. Do the judges have favorites? Let me answer this question with another question… Do you have your favorites? If so, than I think it is perfectly fair for the judges to have theirs. We all have the same opportunity to make them like us. If we don’t take advantage of the opportunity, should we blame them or ourselves? I’m just saying… .. .. Am I writing this blog because I want to shamelessly self-promote my new album? Heck yes! My new record, “Into the Light” is in stores everywhere August 25th… you can get it today on philstacey.com for $10 and you’ll pay no shipping…. Haha .. .. Now back to my restaurant analogy. If I have a favorite dish, I am going to highlight it. I’ll feature it as the item of the day with pretty pictures and hope people order it. There’s nothing wrong with that…
Now add me as a friend and I’ll talk to you soon! : ) |
OK, after reading this rebuttal of sorts that is carefully worded, Stacey is saying nothing about the actual process through which the Idols go, and that’s disconcerting.
What he’s saying is that because the system is the way it is, there is no way in which the system can be changed. In other words, he’s saying others are happy with the status quo.
Also, I don’t care much for his blase attitude towards a situation that other musicians and artists find repressive. And it says little about fixing the problem. His bulletin is putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.
I’m sure others will speak out in due time; this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. But it’s good to see that dialogue is beginning to take place within the Idol ranks. I’ll bet it’s not pleasing the lawyers, however.
