Damien...

Edited: 5th December 2006

OMG, when I published this post, my post count was 666!!!!!

Ahh...hahahahahaha! See what I did there? I've put a picture of Damien from The Omen instead of this Damien (the actual subject of this post):

That's called an intertextual reference, kids, and I hope you write that down. It is oh so clever of me to do. You see, by making this intertextual reference I'm drawing attention to the double meaning inherent in the name "Damien." Apart from being a common boy's name it was also used to name the son of the devil in The Omen and has since been associated, in pop culture at least, with all things evil. And therefore by drawing attention to this particular reading of the name "Damien" I am making a connection between Australian Idol and Satan.

Pictorially it would look like this:

=

Except, as you would have hopefully gathered by now, I don't culturally or symbolically equate Idol with Satan. In fact, I really like Australian Idol and I don't really like Satan (well, you know, except at certain times, like Christmas). So what's with little evil Damien? Nothing. I just like that image, wanted you all to know that I know who won Idol, and wanted to seem all pop-cultural and intertextual. There, you got me.

OK, on with the wrap-up.

Very interesting year. Let me begin by saying THANK GOD IT WASN'T AS BAD AS LAST YEAR. I think that the four seasons of Idol have taught me one thing: Australian Idol voters generally vote on voice. Pretty much every year they've voted for vocal uniqueness and ability over "packageness" (Kate deRough kinda counts, it was an all-round dud year). I mean, really, they say its a singing contest, but because a) being a pop star isn't about singing, some of the biggest pop and rock stars can't sing, and b) being a reality show that shows more than just the stage performances, we are asked to judge them as 'people:' its not really just a singing contest. But it seems that that's what 'the public' want. They've voted the blandest, most unmarketable people as Idols pretty much every year, people that would NEVER GET A RECORD DEAL:

Christian, 'ethnic,' Fro, weird, No Personality = FULL MONG*

Socially stunted, 'ethnic,' overweight, didn't even want to be there really = FULL MONG

Overweight, bland, just...nothing = FULL MONG

Moves like a epileptic, foreign, bad teeth, bland = FULL MONG

Why? Because they can sing. And that's why I like Idol.

You see, Idol didn't wreck the music industry. It doesn't herald the pathetic consumer-driven post-capitalist state of modern culture that permeates into the decadent doomed nation of losers we all are. No, that's been happening for ages. The 'culture industry,' yes Adorno, has been operating for quite some time, and culture has been commodified for, I dunno, only MILLENNIA. Audiences have always been voting for their idols: by buying albums. With Idol, however, instead of getting to choose from a preset of choices determined by record executives, audiences get, to an extent, to pick people at grass-roots levels. And it seems they like the underdog with talent over pre-packageness. Predictable to an extent, but also kinda sweet.

Now, before you all start with the "But Stef, like, its a TV show, with its own agenda and how much control do we really have and its all still part of the system and, like, what about true artist who do it outside the system and make real music, blah blah blah..." Well, to that I say, each to his own. I don't believe that mass-produced music is overly damaging to other sorts of artists. Youth culture latches to all sorts of trends, mainstream and/or counter-cultural, and I don't see any of these practices dying-out. The only form of music I worry about is classical, which youth do seem to be rejecting. It's sad, because its my favorite, really.


Anyway, it was a funny night because all the past Idols and not-quite Idols sang (except, you know, the fat one) and they were lame and then Klancie rode a horse and there were medleys and stuff. It was ace:

Yo Yo Yo we's the Young Divas and we REAL girls with REAL curves. Bootylicious y'all!

Is it still a secret that he's gay? I can't keep up.

BAAH HAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!! HA!

Shannon loves his fans. Wouldn't you?

His guitar fretboard says "Lynyrd Skynyrd" for you kids playing at home.

Oh Bobby. Ahem. Excuse me for a moment...

You were robbed, Ricky. ROBBED I TELLS YA!

"Damo, has anyone ever told you you look like Pippin the mischevious hobbit from Lord of the Rings?"

"Yes, yes they have."

"You're even Scottish too!"

"Kill me."

So all in all, a good Idol year. We got Bobby Flynn, after all. And my deepest apologies (God, as if ANYONE gives two hoots) for only covering half the Idol year and also the lateness of this post. Its been a stressful few months, what with thesis and essays and boys and friends and Thailand. I promise soon I will be back to normal.

* Courtesy Kyle Sandilands