Dave
Ultra Emissary 
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
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Post by Dave on Dec 24, 2005 5:52:36 GMT -5
We were watching "Ice Age" on Fox yesterday evening, and they were running various ads for "American Idol", and one came on featuring a singer (they never said who she was) singing "Sing" accompanied by many clips of people trying to sing their songs. I looked at my wife, and snickered.
I never watch that show, because of many reasons, but the one which stands out is I don't like to see people being ridiculed after giving their best efforts in a field of endeavor that not too many are "good" at.
We all have a "song" we can sing well. Mine just happens to be with large machines. Drop Simon into my world, and I guarantee he'd be looking for the exit!
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 24, 2005 12:42:50 GMT -5
 That's neat Dave. Maybe they should do a Carpenters song night on AI. I would tune in for that.
Like you I don't watch the show much. The critiques of the singers doesn't bother me. After all that's why they participate on the show to get exposure and to possibly win. And along the way they know that they are going to be critiqued. I acutally like Simon because he says it the way he sees it. He's honest about what he thinks. I don't watch the show because it's just not my interest in TV shows. I enjoy dramas and law shows (CSI, Law And Order). |
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Post by smoothie2 on Dec 25, 2005 0:29:32 GMT -5
???AH DAVE LOOKS LIKE YOU BEAT ME TO THE PUNCH....i JUST HAPPENED TO BE AROUND THE TV SOME TODAY, AND HEARD WHO I THOT WAS kAREN SINGING FOR THE AD...BUT i WASN'T SURE....AND THEN i DECIDED THAT IT WAS THE C'S ... Anyway, I don't tune in on that show either for the same reasons you guys mentioned... Really got my attention...other than i only wanted to hear Karen sing and none of the others.  |
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Post by cam83 on Dec 25, 2005 1:11:35 GMT -5
Yeah, I have to agree to. I like Simon, and his comments. He obviously knows what he is doing. As for the people who come on to audition...and some of them are...well, just not gifted at singing...at all...and I don't know who is telling them that they are great singers or what. But I think those around them should be telling them the honest truth...as opposed to lying to them, and telling them they have a chance...just to have them be humiliated on tv, has got to be a hard thing...but a reality, nonetheless. And there can be only one winner...
Cam
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 25, 2005 11:18:25 GMT -5
We were watching "Ice Age" on Fox yesterday evening, and they were running various ads for "American Idol", and one came on featuring a singer (they never said who she was) singing "Sing" accompanied by many clips of people trying to sing their songs. I looked at my wife, and snickered. I never watch that show, because of many reasons, but the one which stands out is I don't like to see people being ridiculed after giving their best efforts in a field of endeavor that not too many are "good" at. We all have a "song" we can sing well. Mine just happens to be with large machines. Drop Simon into my world, and I guarantee he'd be looking for the exit! Hi Dave, Eventhough I do like Simon and I respect him for his candidness - I like people who aren't afraid to speak their mind. I can understand where you're coming from. Especially in respects to what happened with Karen Carpenter. According to the KC movie it was a review in Billboard magazine (they called her Richard's chubby little sister) that ignited Karen's anorexia. Funny thing about that review is that certain Carpenters fans have researched this looking for that review and it simply does not exist. Obviously that is one of the parts of the movie that Richard complains about not being true.
I remember a while back, Dave, you wrote about how our words can hurt each other - and I even posted a sermon from a church service about that very topic. This is very true. We do hurt each other with our words. Though, I feel regarding Karen Carpenter her condition was already there. As Richard has stated - even if she would have been a housewife she would have suffered from anorexia. I have disagreed with this statement in the past. But looking at it now maybe there is some truth to it. She may have suffered from anorexia - but maybe would not have gone as far as it did if she were not a superstar. A lot of people say - well if someone were to have tried to help her maybe things would have turned out different. There were many friends and family who tried to hold her hand. Who let her know they were there for her. Ultimately it was Karen's decision to seek help. Karen remained in denail until near the very end.
In the come around Dave, I understand where you're coming from. But at the same point could you imagine a world where nobody speaks their mind. Conversations would be pretty dull. Inventions wouldn't be invented. Important laws would never go into effect. Criminals would run free. Diversity would be in the shadows.
Just my theory on things...
btw... I saw the commercial for AI - was glad to hear Carpenters (or a Carpenters song) on television again. |
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Dave
Ultra Emissary
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
|
Post by Dave on Dec 25, 2005 11:43:33 GMT -5
"In the come around Dave, I understand where you're coming from. But at the same point could you imagine a world where nobody speaks their mind. Conversations would be pretty dull. Inventions wouldn't be invented. Important laws would never go into effect. Criminals would run free. Diversity would be in the shadows. "
There are plenty of ways to voice one's opinion, or beliefs, without hurting people's feelings. Life is a continuous learning curve. Let me give a good example...
One of the "culture issues" the Columbia Accident Investigation Board found out about NASA was that there was such a schism between technicians, engineers, and management that no one would "speak their mind" at a meeting when Linda Ham, who was then a manager, said "I've heard rumors that some of you want to have photos taken of Columbia. I don't believe there is much we can do..." and the rest is history.
When I read this, I thought about how the "culture" had gone from "Failure is not an option" so quickly. Technicians were afraid to voice concerns for fear of being ridiculed or fired, and this spread upwards to the relationship between the engineers and managers. Where am I going with this?
There are ways to let people know what they're doing wrong without ridiculing them. Part of what people love about "American Idol" is watching people's dreams being shattered in public. Granted, there are many who should never sing outside of their showers (myself among them), and the show trades on this facet. But if Simon went on a job with me, totally unfamiliar with the territory, clueless and skillless, I guarantee I could provoke him into taking a swing at me. Which would prove what? That he knows nothing about industrial instrumentation and controls, and that I know even less about how to relate to people. I wonder if people like that were sandbox losers, and when life gave them a pulpit, they use it to castigate people to make themselves look bigger than they really are.
Harry Chapin once sang an excellent song about the collision between dreams and reality. It is called "Mr. Tanner", and tells a story about a Dayton, OH dry cleaner who was (according to his friends) quite a talented baritone. So, after much prodding from his friends, he takes a chance, and finds out just how good he is on a larger scale.
Anyway, I'm drifting far afield, and posted this because I thought that it was nice that "Sing" was being used to promote the show. Remember when VH1 ran ads using "Sing"? To me, the reoccurence of this simple song, with its simple message, has apparently become a benchmark over time. Surprising, isn't it?
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Post by Rick Henry on Dec 25, 2005 21:39:11 GMT -5
Anyway, I'm drifting far afield, and posted this because I thought that it was nice that "Sing" was being used to promote the show. Remember when VH1 ran ads using "Sing"? To me, the reoccurence of this simple song, with its simple message, has apparently become a benchmark over time. Surprising, isn't it? Several thought provoking ideas in this thread. It really is interesting how this simple song with it's simple message has ended up becoming an important song with an important message. |
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