Pribek

Here’s how the American Idol routine plays out for me; I’m glued to the T.V. for the first couple of episodes, the bad audition episodes. Even though I know it’s all staged, that every one of the unwittingly horrible performances has already been played out in front of another panel of “judges” before they get to Randy, Paula and Simon, it is compelling viewing. It does make me wonder how much the pre-judges are egging these poor souls on. That part makes me sad for them but, I still look.

Then, when it gets down to the real contestants, I will half-heartedly watch a few shows and think; “If I had the chance to produce one of these kids, who would it be? Who could make a good record?” And, I will pick one from the herd, root for them and look in on the show from time to time during the season. My pick always gets the elbow somewhere about mid-way (this year it was Carly Smithson). At that point my interest wanes but, I usually make it a point to watch the last couple of shows to see who wins.

I did get to see the last half of the show last night.

Was I entertained? I actually asked myself that question while driving back to the Winnebago last night. I kind of got a kick out of seeing ZZTop up there, kind of but, just for the fact that it seemed so goofy. And, for some reason, I found the Graham Nash-Brooke White duet on “Teach Your Children” to be touching. But, those were fleeting moments containing entertainment value. Mostly the show was the spectacle of the hard sell.

Lisa de Moraes got it right in the Washington Post.

And what an infomercial it was! Only four minutes in, the Idolettes are already shilling for the Fox network’s summer series “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Not coincidentally, Janice Dickinson is seen in the audience, shouting, “I love you!” at some poor unsuspecting Idolette onstage, by way of plugging herself and her Oxygen reality series, “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.”…

By 8:13 p.m. they are shamelessly hawking the Paramount flick “The Love Guru,” who, Seacrest insists, is the official “American Idol” guru…

The Two Davids are handed the keys to Ford Hybrid SUVs because, Seacrest says, they got great feedback on their starring moments in this season’s Ford Music Videos…

Last year’s winner, Jordin Sparks, is living the “Idol” dream, we’re told. “But why should I have all the fun?” she asks from Disney World. We agree…

And on and on and on…everything is a plug, everything is an ad.

This is from a Nielsen press release I saw this morning.

During season 6 (Jan. 16 – May 23, 2007), American Idol featured 4,349 product placement occurrences. As of March 31, 2008, the number of placements featured during season 7 was surging — American Idol had already racked up 3,291 occurrences.

I keep hearing that Idol’s ratings are down this year but, everybody’s ratings are down. If they slip a few points in the Nielsen’s but show those damn Coke cups a few thousand more times, I’m sure they more than make up the difference.

In the end they crowned a winner, a “bartender”/”rocker” who will sell some records and have some type of career. Some do better than others, some gain credibility, some don’t but, they all seem to hang around.

The Idol franchise will roll on, placing products and making us look. That’s the real contest; making us look. It’s an advertiser supported culture and there’s too many distractions these days. Someday, the Idol franchise may reach the point of diminishing returns but, it’s not even close to that point yet. American Idol is still the undisputed champion of making us look.

It seems that every time you turn around, some celebrity is embroiled in a big lawsuit. Lawsuits are a big part of show biz, but, only the show biz that makes serious cash. Deals are often cut early on and then regretted later. I’ve seen this first hand when an artist/writer sells rights to creative property. No matter how justified quick cash seems at the time, it’s going to bug them for eternity. Bottom line is; contracts stick.

This time it’s Winnie the Pooh. This is how I understand the case. Writer A.A. Milne created the character “Pooh” and then sold the U.S. right to heirs of Steven Slesinger in 1930. The Slesinger family licensed their rights to Disney in 1961 then, re-negotiated the deal in 1983. Meanwhile, Milne’s granddaughter has sought to reclaim the rights and Disney has backed her.

Now, a federal judge in California has granted a summary judgement in favor of Slesinger. You gotta know that Disney is “lawyered up” more than just about anybody. Evidently, they felt pretty confident as it appears they owe royalties from the interim.

According to Slesinger’s attorney in this Breitbart story…

“Now that Disney’s misguided claims have been dismissed, we can focus on pursuing Slesinger’s claims against Disney for damages, trademark and copyright infringement, breach of contract, and fraudulently underpaying royalties, and seeking in excess of two billion dollars in compensatory and general damages,”

Two Billion buys a lot of honey.

Here is what I don’t get. Disney is known for being sticklers when it comes to intellectual property, licensing, and copyrights. Just see what happens to you if you try to sell knock-off Mickey Mouse gear in your roadside stand.

So what is Disney’s angle? Do they think that there is some “moral” reason that the 1930 deal with Milne should not be valid? That doesn’t make sense.

Do they think that whatever contract that was struck in 1930 is faulty? Well, a federal judge doesn’t and one would think that Disney’s law team would be pretty adept at contract law.

I may be stepping out on a limb here but maybe; just maybe; this has to do with money. It is conceivable that Disney could cut a more favorable deal with Milne’s granddaughter in the event that the copyright was over turned. Or, failing that, at least throw so many lawyers at this Slesinger guy that he would agree to some type of settlement.

A contract sticks even in the 100 acre wood.