February 2, 2007

Democracy Rules, and Pop Culture Depends on It

By JEFF LEEDS
Nytimes

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 1 — No one will vote to declare the winner of the Super Bowl on Sunday. But you might be excused for thinking it possible.

Before the game, three amateur singers selected by voters online will be named as finalists in a contest to perform with Justin Timberlake at the Grammy Awards.

During the game, aspiring advertising writers — also anointed in voter contests — will see the broadcasts of the ads they created for Chevrolet, Doritos and the National Football League itself.

Once it’s all over, fans on YouTube.com can vote for their favorite Super Bowl commercials.

Inspired by the success of Fox’s “American Idol” and the open culture of the Internet, voter-based competitions are proliferating in every corner of the entertainment world.

Fans are asked to vote on who should earn a record contract with a major label, win the chance to produce a soap opera, create a music video for a Hollywood movie studio, and star in a restaging of “Grease” on Broadway.

The trend goes beyond mere “Idol” mimicry.

The impulse for self-expression and the new outlets for it — from YouTube’s user-generated content to video chats on Stickam.com — are reshaping how consumers interact with television programs, music, film, video games and other entertainment media.

“They’re less willing to be spoon-fed,” said Simon Fuller, the entertainment impresario behind “American Idol.” There is, he added, “this need for a modern person to do more than just watch. We want to get involved. We want to post blogs. We’re more vibrant in opinion.”

Yet even as entertainment democracy proliferates, some question how well it works. While “Idol” continues to draw huge audiences, ABC’s singing competition, “The One,” last year drew record low ratings. A CBS show, “Rock Star,” raised modest interest in two seasons but is seen as a long shot to return. Winners of another recent contest, YouTube’s “Underground” music video competition, landed an appearance on “Good Morning America” but remain a long way from stardom.

And some skeptics ask whether the spread of such contests is a reflection less of rising populism than of new marketing tricks.

“What it really represents is an ever more cleverly manipulated pop culture,” said Dave Marsh, a longtime rock critic and host of a Sirius satellite radio show. “Empowerment becomes a commodity.”

Indeed, if the contests so far are any indication, entertainment executives and network officials are not prepared to turn over decisions just yet. Usually a panel of judges made up of established industry figures winnow down the candidates either before or after voters have their say.

In criticizing the contests, Mr. Marsh said the mass market spots talent well enough: “The mob chose Elvis Presley, the mob chose James Brown, the mob chose the Beatles.” With executives filtering the process, he said, the result is “disposable” performers “who are selected because they stay away from anything that’s personal or controversial.”

The voting processes themselves vary. In “Idol,” viewers vote as often as they want.

Other contests, though, are trying to restrict the number of votes a single fan can cast. In the Grammy contest, organizers have accepted only one vote per e-mail address, and say they have received more than 150,000. A similar process is in place at the Web site Music Nation, where fans this week began voting online for musicians from three genres who submit videos. The winner will receive a record contract and a chance to perform in studio for broadcast by Clear Channel, the radio giant.

And so the onslaught continues. The NBC series “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” is scouting new talent for a Broadway revival, and is even asking fans to vote on how they will vote. “When voting, what is the most important thing you are going to look for in all the performers competing?” an online poll asks.

Inviting people to offer their views “has become an expectation, and it’s a way of life,” said Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which runs the Grammy Awards.

The academy learned that firsthand last year when “Idol” pummeled the Grammy telecast in the ratings. Mr. Portnow said that the academy had been looking for new ways to connect with young people. So it ran a contest in which unsigned performers sent in videos of themselves singing a cappella.

It received more than 3,000 submissions. An academy panel picked 12, and voters online are to determine who will sing with Mr. Timberlake.

Mr. Fuller, the creator of “Idol,” said that the crush of contests — whether as part of talent searches or simply of promotions — suggests that the trend “will just burn out, because people will be sick of it. I think it’s got to go to another level.”

Of the current crop of vote-driven ventures, he predicted, “80 percent of those will fail because the motivation for doing them is flawed.” Most, he said, “just think, ‘It’s people like contests and they like to vote, so let’s give them something to do.’ It’s not that simple.”

Key to the success of “Idol,” Mr. Fuller and other entertainment executives agree, is stimulating viewer interest in the narratives of contestants pursuing the spotlight — not just giving fans the power to vote.

“Voting is actually incredibly easy and therefore not that meaningful,” said Michael Hirschorn, executive vice president for original programming and production at VH-1, which plans a voting-based show of its own, “Acceptable.tv,” this spring. “I don’t think there’s a desperate hunger in the public to grab the reins of artist development.” He added: “But I do think there’s a desire for a deeper emotional connection to artists.”

It is far from clear, though, that the connections voters make with their favorite new talents are the sort that are built to last. “Idol” winners like Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Barrino have generally fared poorly with their later albums.

Even the debut album of the most recent winner, Taylor Hicks, has tumbled down the charts after selling 298,000 copies in its first week on sale in December, according to Nielsen SoundScan data.

Chris Daughtry, a fourth-place finisher on “Idol” last year, does have a best-selling CD. Unlike Mr. Hicks, though, he has benefited from a hit song, “It’s Not Over,” that radio stations put in heavy rotation.

That, analysts say, suggests that aspiring stars — even those backed by a bloc of voters — still need support from old-line media gatekeepers like radio and TV stations.

Daniel Klaus, Music Nation’s chief executive, said that the future of fan voting was most likely the creation not of superstars but of “microstars” who draw small but avid audiences. Gaining popularity through contests like his, he said, might help a new act sell only 10,000 to 20,000 copies of a song online, for example, but “there will be a few that will go on to bigger and better things.”