Bad Music

In the summer of 2002, a musical talent contest-cum-reality televi-sion program snowballed into a multi-platform blockbustermegahit in a little over three months; by all measures, the 2003 and 2004 season has so far surpassed their predecessor.3 Like previous radio and television talent contests, American Idol depended on audience voting for its selection of a winner. And, like the reality TV programs that have recently come to dominate American prime time, the show focused on the character development of an ever-dwindling pool of contestants. Combining the democratic principle of an audience vote and the narrative principle of the months-long competition, American Idol was a marketing phenomenon of unprecedented efficacy in the United States popular music industry. Telling captivating stories about its contestants and grueling audition process, the 2002 season produced a windfall for advertisers and a massive body of deeply invested fans for winner Kelly Clarkson and several of her runners-up.