Sunday, February 17, 2008

American Idol

The integrity of "American Idol" as
a contest for raw, undiscovered talent was called into question
again after an Irish singer who once had a major-label deal,
and solo album that flopped, advanced to the top rung of the
competition this week.

Dublin native Carly Smithson, who formerly recorded for MCA
Records under her maiden name, Carly Hennessy, was one of the
24 "Idol" contestants who made it on Wednesday to the semifinal
rounds voted on each week by the show's home TV audience.

Online critics immediately seized on her initial success,
and her professional recording background, as further evidence
that "the fix" might be in for the top-rated show on U.S.
television.

"'American Idol' is supposed to be all about giving
undiscovered talent a chance," wrote Lyndsey Parker in an entry
posted on Thursday on her Reality Rocks blog site. "It makes me
wonder if Carly is a prearranged plant."

A spokeswoman for the News Corp-owned Fox network, which
broadcasts "American Idol," declined to comment.

Smithson is hardly the first "Idol" wannabe to have toiled
professionally as a performer before appearing on the show.

"Idol" bars anyone with a current talent-management deal or
recording contract from competing, but contestants are
permitted to have signed professionally in the past.

Still, critics suggest that "Idol" producers appear to be
deliberately obscuring Smithson's background.

'ULTIMATE HIGH'

The show's video profile on Smithson, now 24, acknowledges
that she competed two years ago in Season 5 before she was
disqualified over visa problems. But her on-air biography made
no mention of her past relationship with MCA Records.

Nor did it mention that her 2001 debut album on that label,
ironically titled "Ultimate High," was such a spectacular flop
that it was profiled in the Wall Street Journal as a case study
in the shortcomings of music industry marketing.

Despite solid reviews and more than $2.2 million spent by
MCA producing and marketing the album, the CD sold fewer than
400 copies in its first three months of release, according to
the Journal.

The daughter of a fashion model, young Carly landed the
role of Little Cosette in the international production of the
stage musical "Les Miserables" at the age of 9. A year later
she recorded an album of holiday music that was distributed
across Ireland and Britain.

She also played a small part in the 1990 film "Fools of
Fortune" and at age 12 became a nationally recognized face in
an Irish advertising campaign for a sausage company.

According to her MCA profile, she ventured to the United
States with her father/manager at age 15 with a demo tape in
hand, got an audition with MCA Records President Jay Boberg and
"he signed her on the spot."

But the resulting album, produced with the help of former
New Radicals singer-songwriter Gregg Alexander, failed to gain
ground in the flooded teen market, and Hennessy lost her deal.

If she emerges victorious on "American Idol," Smithson will
become the show's first champion to have previously recorded an
album for a major label.

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