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Apparently Sanjaya caused an issue on “American Idol” last night. He did the second craziest thing apparently an idol contestant has done this season. No, he didn’t pose for racy pics, he had fun with his hair:

Apparently this so disturbed Simon that they had a bit of an exchange over his hair. Now, I got a problem with this. Simon to me represents the mentality of the recording industry in general. For fifty years they have tried their best to crank out the most mundane, boring, and safe “idols” they possibly could. Now, to me, music is a form of art. It’s not purely an entertainment vehicle. Sure, lots of people look at it that way, but I don’t. Follow me on this and I’ll try to explain why I think Simon should be booted off the show and Sanjaya kept.

This is what the other contestants looked like that apparently Simon had no issue with:

and,

Now, that’s fairly boring to me. Gina apparently likes to get a little crazy with her hair too. But, pouring a little blue dye in your hair is something a million teenage girls and emo boys are doing all over the country. In other words, there’s no creative art there at all. This wouldn’t be so bad, but here’s a sampling of what’s being offered to our kids as “idols” today. Namely, some of the Top 10 bands from Billboard:

	This is Three Days Grace sporting the traditional contemporary businessman look. Boring.
	Stone Sour sporting the traditional biker look with lots of tattoos, unkempt hair, mostly black t-shirts, and just a touch of the Sex Pistols thrown in for good measure. This look as bored me since it was worn out in the 70’s.
	This is Korn ( Saliva )sporting the, well, biker look. Black t-shirt, lots of tattoos, unkempt hair. Pretty much a clone of Stone Sour, Korn, our any other band that feels they have to sing like someone who wears black t-shirts andhave lots of tattoos. In simpler terms, no creativity, no art, boring.
	This is Papa Roach. You got it, black t-shirts ( or none ), lots of tattoos, messy hair. Toss in the snarl to make sure everyone knows he’s a crazy rocker just like Saliva, Stone Sour, and a few others I’m gonna mention here. In my terms, predictable, uncreative, boring.
	This is Godsmack donning a black t-shirt, some tattoos, messy hair, and for shock effect, a white bandana. In other words, predictable and boring.
	This is Disturbed, sporting no hair at all, black t-shirt, and of course, leather. Do I need to repeat the same fashion description since he’s sporting exactly the same fashion as everyone else?
	This is Chevelle sporting the traditional boy-band look. Predictable. Boring.
	This is Buckcherry looking exactly as I saw him in concert last year. Probably wearing exactly the same jeans he wore last year. He of course, to illustrate his “wild and crazy” rocker image, wears lots of tattoos, messy hair, and jeans. Predictable, boring.
	This is Three Days Grace sporting the traditional contemporary businessman look. Boring.Waitaminute. Nevermind and so sorry, that’s Breaking Benjamin sporting the Three Days Grace look.

Now, the problem I have is not only do all of these bands fall into two very neat categories in appearance, they fall into two very neat categories in sound. It’s all very regimented in the recording these days. That’s what Simon illustrates to me by concerning himself with things that have nothing to do with the issue. I don’t want yet another Korn or Godsmack. That’s been done. I bored of it about 20 years ago. I don’t want yet another Pat Boone. That’s been done for fifty years. No matter how hard they growl or snarl, Disturbed is yet another Godsmack which is yet another Korn which is yet another………

Now, this gripe of mine is not new. When I was a kid, the flower generation was burning out. Creativity went the way of cranking repetitions of things others did to get famous. There were so many bands appearing on tv wearing tie-dye t-shirts and faded ripped jeans that I was pretty much ready to completely give up on performance rock in general. Along came psychedelic and glam rock to pretty much push performance art to levels it had never known before due to technology advances. Before too long, a concert became a full blown sensory event. Your ears were stimulated, your eyes stimulated, your sense of feel with the pulsing music.  Every sense you had was satisfied. Some examples:

In other words, thought was put into the performance itself. Sure, there were plenty of people that just ran out and stomped around a lot like they are today, but when you saw the people that put something extra into the show itself, you remembered it for 25 years. What Simon is telling Sanjaya, and the world, is that thinking for himself is bad and that’s not what the recording industry, personified by Simon, wants from someone they are going to mass market into being an “idol”.

That is exactly why record sales keep plummeting. Get Simon off that stupid show and let contestants be screened by artists instead of businessmen.  Then we’ll get an idol that will be cited by people like me 25 years down the road. And, they’ll still be selling their stuff then too.

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