OK, lets be contentious...

This could get dirty...

Whilst in a haze of delerium suffering from my attack of the man-flu, the worst virus known to mankind even though women brush it off as "a mere sniffle", I have found myself watching the Sunday re-run of American Idol.

Its the first bit of this series that I have watched this year as the genre is sort of wearing a bit thin now, but this week the contenders were invited to meet Stevie Wonder and had to sing one of his songs on the show.

Now I am old enough to have known about Stevie Wonder since he was "Little Stevie Wonder" and in my book he has never, ever, not once, not ever, ever, ever produced or sung a bad song - the absolute best album in my large collection of music is head and shoulders above the rest, without peer, "Songs in the Key of Life" my 1976 christmas present from my parents, I didn't stop playing that album until it was worn smooth and it was the first one that I downloaded (legally of course) on MP3.

So maybe I'm a little biased here.

The kids on American Idol, with a couple of exceptions, made a complete bears arse out of the tracks that were chosen for them.

And the interesting, and at the same time contentious issue about this is that the two "artists" who had a good crack at their tracks were both black females.

Why should that matter ?

I don't think it does, but it does beg the question, is there such a thing as "black music" and can only black people feel it enough to be able to sing it properly ?

The two girls in question sang "dont you worry 'bout a thing" and "signed sealed delivered", both of them put something of themselves into the song and added to it, they both moved comfortably with the song and most importantly made you the veiwer feel comfortable watching them singing a song that you inextricably link with the incomparable Mr Steveland Morris.

The rest ranged from ordinary to just plain bloody awful, some of the white males looked like me trying to dance at my wedding 23 years ago - and let me tell you, that was the first and last time I have ever danced in public, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can dance, let alone do justice to a Stevie Wonder song.

Its not enough to move jerkily around a stage and recite the words to a Wonder song, its not kareoke material and if you treat it like its a job you have to do, then it will come across as kareoke, Wonder songs are written with heart, the words are not there just to fill up the gaps, they are chosen carefully with meaning and you have to understand the meaning first before you can even start to read the lyrics - none of the kids (exceptions excluded) understood this, they were going through the motions and trying to present an image which they believed the producers wanted to see on national TV, and because they know no better they'll do the same next week and the week after with whatever other artist is picked as a topic.

And there is the problem with such programming.

They are not looking for unique talent, they are looking for a talent that can be easily moulded into an image which is already defined by the current popular music charts.

The producers do not want another Stevie Wonder, they do not want a stable full of individual artists each with their own individual sound that can nevertheless still present a corporate sound at the same time, like Tamla Motown once did, no that would be too difficult, they are simply looking for a kid who has the right look to record and mime in public to the dozen or so songs that are already waiting for the winner to record, so that the producer and his record company can make some more money out of the series.


Will Young - I'll give you Will Young - the only unique talent to come out of the UK series of "Idol" programmes, and only because he had the balls to immediately identify himself as gay, thus scuppering the producers attempt to market him to pre-teen girls, and at the same time tell the producers that he wanted to take a year out to write and produce his own album - I've got a lot of respect for Will Young, the rest of them are, as I type, packing their suitcases and touring the working mens clubs of this country at £40 a night, and its all they deserve.