Howard Stern Tries to Kill 'American Idol' With Kindness for a Weak Link.
For the last few years, three-quarters of the network television executives in Hollywood have tried to figure out how to derail “American Idol,” the Fox juggernaut that dominates the prime-time ratings.Now Howard Stern, of all people, says he has found the way.
For the last two weeks, Mr. Stern has been promoting a Web site created by a 24-year-old “American Idol” fan that encourages people to support the worst performer on the popular talent show. Their candidate has been Sanjaya Malakar, the off-key, lyric-fumbling, elaborately coiffed teenager who is perhaps the most talked-about “Idol” contestant ever.
“We’re corrupting the entire thing,” Mr. Stern said on his Sirius Satellite Radio show Thursday, the day after Mr. Malakar secured a place in the top nine finalists. “All of us are routing ‘American Idol.’ It’s so great. The No. 1 show in television and it’s getting ruined.”
By promoting Mr. Malakar, Mr. Stern says, he hopes to turn the talent competition into a farce and destroy its popularity.[New York Times]
4 comments:
It would be, had it Stern not made it so obvious.
It's not 5GW if the enemy knows you're doing it. 4GW fits this better. And curse you, Howard Stern, for making me look at Sanjaya's visage another week!
Gotta love Howard for mixing it up again. I haven't listened to him since he left the "public" airwaves, but I'm glad to hear he's still ruffling feathers. (I've never seen American Idol, so I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing - but anecdotally, it sounds about right.)
It brings up an interesting question too: could the votes in such reality TV shows be vulnerable to a concerted campaign like Sterns?
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