That groaning sound you heard last night was the late Elvis Presley voicing his disapproval of Noriega's dreadful performance of "Jailhouse Rock" on yesterday's telecast. Even stranger was the fact that Noriega picked the song, which debuted in 1957, for 60's night. Vote for the Worst urges its readers to "vote as much as you can for the fierce and fabulous Danny Noriega. Simon [Cowell] obviously hated him the most, which is why we love him the most."

Noriega, like Malakar, erodes fans' confidence in Idol, which should alarm Fox's parent News Corp (NYSE: NWS). There are some other weird developments that will tax viewers' patience even further. Idol contestant Carly Smithson was signed to MCA records when judge Randy Jackson worked there. Allowing contestants to participate who have had record deals dilutes the spirit of the contest.

Continue reading Will Fox kill the golden American Idol goose?

Will Fox kill the golden American Idol goose? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those scamps from Vote for the Worst are stirring up the pot at "American Idol" again.

First, the snarky Web site through its support to Sanjaya Malakar, perhaps the weirdest finalist in the News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) show's history. Now, beat box virtuoso Blake Lewis has gotten the site's backing.

'The judges make no sense when they love Blake's beat boxing one week and hate it the next," the site says. "Because of all this, VFTW is supporting Blake Lewis, the only semi-entertaining person left on the show. He's also the least consistent, so he could possibly throw in a little unpredictability."

Unlike Malakar. Lewis deserves to be on the "American Idol." He has a nice voice and his version of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" -- beat boxing and all -- was one of the most original performances ever on the program. Sometimes, though, the beat boxing gets annoying.

Lewis doesn't deserve to win. Melinda Dolittle does. She is the best singer that's ever been on American Idol. Unfortunately, she has the charisma of guacamole.

Jordin Sparks is the next American Idol.

She's young, got a great voice and someone who can be packaged into a pop star in the Hillary Duff mold fairly easily. Sparks is an exceptional singer as well, especially for someone her age. Let's hope that her album outsells the debut from Sanjaya Malakar.

Vote for the Worst again messes with American Idol originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 May 2007 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch probably was the no. 1 fan of the most hapless "American Idol" contest in history Sanjaya Malakar ,whose time on the top-rated show mercifully came to an end last night.

Love him or hate him, Malakar made this season interesting. Otherwise, people would have grown tired of dishing out superlatives to Melinda Doolittle, who is the best singer in the competition's history, or trying to figure out half the things said by judge Paula Abdul.

Dave Della Terza, the creator of the snarky Vote for the Worst Web site that "championed" Malakar along with shock jock Howard Stern, aptly described "American Idol" as a "carefully crafted reality show."

When the 17-year-old Malakar walked into the audition room, the producers knew exactly what they were getting. Even as Malakar sung his heart out badly, his goofy earnestness somehow made him likeable. In other words, he was pure television gold.

Continue reading Rupert Murdoch will miss Sanjaya Malakar

Rupert Murdoch will miss Sanjaya Malakar originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sanjaya Malakar and Howard Stern are smack dab in the middle of a high-stakes battle for America's attention.

According to The New York Times [registration required], the battle pits Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), as led by Howard Stern, and VoteForTheWorst.com -- along with Stern's silent partners: all the other networks -- against American Idol's corporate sponsors, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox Network and Idol-rights owner, CKX Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE).

Stern's stated goal is to destroy Idol's popularity by encouraging people to vote for Malakar, whose unique hair styles and ability to bring 12-year-old girls to tears have contributed to his survival on the show despite weak vocal skills. If Malakar wins, acerbic judge, Simon Cowell, has threatened to quit the show. If Cowell did quit, Stern could indeed damage Idol's popularity -- people love to hate Cowell.

What is going on here? Your guess is as good as mine. But I think the Malakar furor is great for American Idol -- his Mohawk helped persuade General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) Today Show to lead with a Malakar story last Wednesday. Stern is trying to boost his own ratings by tapping into Idol's popularity and today's great coverage by the New York Times won't hurt Stern either.

I think News Corp. will be the winner in this skirmish, CKX and Sirius will not benefit significantly, and the losers will continue to be the other networks who try to compete with the Idol juggernaut.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns shares of General Electric and has no financial interest in the other stocks mentioned in this post.

Malakar and Stern stir up a ratings tornado originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 31 Mar 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

My recent stories about American Idol inflamed reader passions from many perspectives. Sanjaya aside, the idea of American companies out-sourcing jobs to India or anywhere else offends many people. Some readers of American Idol: Are Indian call centers skewing the vote? thought I was singling out the people of India which they interpreted as hostile and racist. I thought I would set the record straight about my views on the subject.

1. The jobs we are sending overseas to India, or elsewhere, is not affecting the employment rate in the United States to any appreciable level. Last I read the unemployment rate stood at 4.5%. It has been hovering between 4% and 5% for several years. To me that is actually close to full employment in a market society as complex as ours. I have no expectation that we could sustain anything lower.
2. Our connection and developing relationship with India in particular is extremely valuable. I believe India has as much potential as any nation, and more than most, to help us expand our economy. It's size, value system, geographic location, history, English foundation, and more make it a great partner. There is much more to gain than to lose for both sides.
3. The fluidity of markets and the greatest transparency in business dealings should be our focus and the word globalization is sometimes a distraction. It is not specific and means different things to different people. Integration is a better word. International partnering is a better term. Since the market is becoming more and more fluid we have not only witnessed call-centers and software development moving overseas, but in some cases they are coming back as companies experiment and decide they function better with local talent and control.

One of the greatest ironies I find in this whole discussion is that the people that complain about the outsourcing of work to other countries are the same ones that complain if a foreign company comes to set up shop in the United States - bringing jobs here!

Continue reading Call centers won't go away - American Idol notwithstanding

Call centers won't go away - American Idol notwithstanding originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Vote for the Worst enjoys being a fly around the Tyrannosaurus Rex that is "American Idol."

`"American Idol" isn't really a talent competition," said Dave Della Terza, who founded the snarky Web site in 2004, in an interview. "It's a carefully crafted realty show."

Della Terza hasn't made many friends at Fox and its corporate parent News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) or among rabid fans who regularly accuse him of trying to ruin America's most popular television show. Their angry emails on Vote for the Worst are hysterical.

Topic number one on the minds of his readers is Sanjaya Malakar. For those of you who are in a cave or in a coma, Malakar is a hapless young man who has managed to charm his way into the hearts of the American public. Every week, millions of viewers wait to find out what pop song the 17-year-old will butcher next.

In other words, Malakar is perfect for Vote for the Worst.

"It's pretty obvious that he's scared out of his mind," he said. "It's so awkward that the judges never know what to say."

Last night was no exception. Malakar put his long flowing brown hair into a mock Mohawk. His rendition of No Doubt's "Bathwater" was weird. Simon Cowell summed it up perfectly when he said that at this point it doesn't matter what the judges say about Malakar. Cowell is Sanjaya's "favorite" judge because he's "brutally honest," according to the show's Web site.

This season has had a few highlights for Della Terza. Idol contestant Chris Sligh, the chubby guy with the curly hair, gave him a shout out after finishing one of his songs. The site was also mentioned on VH1's "Best Week Ever."

"He understands the humor behind our Web site," he said of Sligh.

Maybe he'll have more time to enjoy Vote for the Worst. Sligh's rendition of "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" didn't rock the house.

Try as it might, Fox can't ignore Vote for the Worst.

The site gets about one million hits a day and as many as four million hits on show nights. I had trouble getting on Vote for the Worst during last night's broadcast.

Vote for the Worst makes money, but not enough for Della Terza to make a living, he said.

Della Terza took pains to point out that he has a real job. Actually, he's got two of them.

"This is definitely not a job," he joked.

Media World: Vote for the Worst pokes fun at "American Idol" originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I received a torrent of comments to my recent blog post: American Idol: Are Indian call centers skewing the vote? and some of the responses had me rolling with laughter. I'm sure my perspective will not be shared by all, but shared it will be. Among all opinions there was consensus that contestant Sanjaya has outlasted his level of talent. My colleague Jonathan Berr had a different view when he posted Vote for the Worst is messing with American Idol, not Indian call centers. Still others thought Sanjaya was still on the show because he was an anti-judges vote, or young and cute, or even gay... a gay vote?

Having read everyone's thinking on the subject, which was one of my motivations for writing the story, I think it is all of the above. I hope that the "Vote for the Worst" does not have a major impact on the eventual outcome. Consider that the show has created opportunities for young talent to gain an audience, while entertaining millions with something better than infomercials and melodramas about doom and destruction.

The funniest comment of the week goes to VM who thought to critique my commentary with humor and succeeded. Thanks VM:

I own 25 call centers in India, and all my staff is just sitting idle during the American Idol. It is the great Indian Idle during American Idol.

So I have asked them to download the American Idol video -- as it is available on Bit Torrent as soon as it is aired -- there are lots of fans in India who download the show immediately, and get Sanjaya's number and start voting for him. For every vote, I reward with a point, and with every 100 points, they get a pay grade increase. So -- American Idol contestants, contact me if you want to win -- I can hook you up.

Continue reading Sunday Funnies: American Idol - Indian Idle

Sunday Funnies: American Idol - Indian Idle originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Much as it pains me to disagree with the articulate rant of my fellow blogger Sheldon Liber, the Vote for the Worst Web site is the cause of the mischief on this season's "American Idol" not Indian call centers who are responsible for every other ill in modern society.

Vote for the Worst perverts the very wholesome nature of the number television show by gleefully encouraging people to vote for the worst singers in the competition to continue. The nerve of these people!

The scandalous and talentless Antonella Barba was championed by the site, as was the charming but erratic Sundance Head. Sanjaya Malakar is now the object of their attention and I am scared. Sanjaya is so bad that I don't think he would be cast as the lead in my local high school musical. He might become the next American Idol if we don't stop these fiends.

Of course, the real winner in all of this hubub is News Corp. (NYSE:NWS), which continues to rake in huge profit from the show whose popularity is showing no signs of slowing.

So America, remember to vote for your favorite idol. This isn't an election for president. It's really important.

Vote for the Worst is messing with American Idol, not Indian call centers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.