American Idol

★ "American Idol" is a reality TV program launched by Fox in the United States based on the British TV series "PopIdol". Contestants on the show must be U.S. citizens and between the ages of 16 and 24. In 2006, the age limit for competition was relaxed to 28 years old. This program has always been a ratings magic weapon for Fox, and the prize for the champion is a singing contract. In the seven years since the show was broadcast, although public opinions have been mixed, it has undoubtedly received a lot of attention. The year before last, Kong Qingxiang, who was tone-deaf, was ridiculed by the judges for his comedic performance and was eliminated on the spot. However, he became famous overnight with the sentence "I have tried my best, so I will not have any regrets." Not only did he win the support of the American audience, he also succeeded. Signed and released his first album, sparking discussions about idols around the world.

★"USA Today" estimates that the total global revenue of "American Idol" in the past four years has exceeded 900 million US dollars

Whether it is plagiarism or imitation, Super Girl, who is popular all over China, is just like that A replica of "American Idol". Judging from the content of the program, the apprentice has already caught up with the master; judging from the business operation, the "idol" is really a "super girl" who can worship him.

In fact, the real version of American Idol in China is My Style, My Show. Compared to Super Girl, who only cares about commercial value and relies on hype, maybe My Show will be better. So please don’t comment on Supergirl and American Idol together.

"American Idol" is jointly produced by 19 Entertainment, a company owned by British gold medal manager Fuller, and FremantleMedia North America, a subsidiary of German media giant Bertelsmann. It has been broadcast on Fox TV for four consecutive seasons since 2002. It has not only become the most popular entertainment program in the United States today, but also created a business model that makes money like water.

"USA Today" estimates that "American Idol" has achieved an astonishing performance of more than 900 million U.S. dollars in total global revenue in the past four years from TV advertising, record distribution, authorized souvenirs, and concert tickets. According to Fuller: "We want to make every penny in the entertainment industry chain."

TV copyright and advertising

For a TV show, copyright and advertising Still the biggest "golden egg". Fox Television Station alone paid more than $75 million in royalties for "American Idol." Since 2001, the producers have produced similar programs in 33 countries around the world, including "Indian Idol", "Canadian Idol", and the British "Pop Idol".

Fox’s capital investment has not been in vain. Tuesday's program always ranked first in prime time ratings, attracting an average of 28.9 million viewers; Wednesday's average audience also reached 25.6 million. Crazy ratings have brought rising advertising revenue. Last year, a 30-second ad for "American Idol" sold for US$250,000; in January this year, it rose to US$400,000; entering the finals in April and May, it increased to US$700,000. The final winner was worth US$1 million, and during the two-hour live broadcast, he earned US$40 million from advertising alone.

For this season’s programs, Fox earned at least US$444 million in advertising revenue, accounting for one-third of its total revenue. Producers also receive $40 million in annual publicity fees from major sponsors. Ford, Coca-Cola and Cingular are the main sponsors of "American Idol". In addition to investing tens of millions of dollars in advertising, they also pay extra to have their products appear repeatedly in the show, such as Cingular's exclusive SMS voting service.

Music CDs and concerts

The release of records is an indispensable part of the derivative business chain of "American Idol". Last year, the total CD sales of 10 "idol" singers was close to $100 million. Among them, the first champion Kelly Clarkson's autographed commemorative album "Gratitude" has sold as many as 300,000 copies. The single CD "At This Moment" she sang during the competition has reached the top of the 100 Hot Hits list, and its sales exceeded those of the prestigious songs. Veteran singer.

Fuller's 19 Entertainment has the three-year record signing rights with each Idol winner, and then transfers them to Sony PolyGram for a "transfer fee", and the latter's Professionals are responsible for the distribution of records.

According to Billboard magazine, "American Idol" earned $28 million from concerts last year, about 40% of which came from 49 concert tours, and 40% from 2003 Runner-up Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson's 30 double concerts. For these newcomers to the music scene, the ticket sales of 5,000-10,000 people per concert have impressed people in the industry.

Brand licensed products

According to FremantleMedia estimates, American consumers spent $215 million on "American Idol" licensed products last year, covering toys, candy, commercial cards, 35 categories including electronic games, magazines and books.

Login to the official website of "American Idol" feels like entering a big supermarket. From various trinkets and souvenirs such as key rings engraved with column logos, to frames, photo albums, cultural shirts printed with the heads of "idols" of various generations, as well as individual albums and collective albums of idols, all can be sold online.

A British video game company has adapted "American Idol" into a video game of the same name. The game has various roles like judges, hosts, contestants, etc. just like in the show. Players can choose their own roles in the game and participate in various talent shows until they defeat many opponents and embark on the road to stardom.

Currently, Fuller is conceiving a more ambitious "way to make money." He plans to launch a fixed program of theater shows in Las Vegas, so that every tourist can go on stage to experience idol addiction, of course, the prerequisite is to buy a ticket first. Fuller also plans to put the live broadcast of the game on the Internet, adding behind-the-scenes content such as rehearsals, clothing selection, and tears. Of course, it will also be downloadable for a fee.

"Pervasive" is the core concept of "American Idol" marketing. As long as it is an area that is imaginable, Fuller and his partners will be the first to expand and expand. Compared to the rush to register the "Supergirl" trademark, Fuller had already registered it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as soon as possible.

The road to expansion must be cautious

Fuller has not been dazzled by the glory of wealth. He is still cautious about every marketing decision. "American Idol is a brand, and our goal is to make it enduring for decades to come."

Maintaining the core competitiveness of the brand must be followed. When deciding whether to export the brand to Mattel's Barbie doll, Fuller considered a lot: "Would this infantilize the brand and lose the trust of its main fans aged 16-24?" Similar questions arise in jewelry, perfume, and clothing. You must be careful in the business development of furniture and furniture. Once you go too far, you will hurt yourself.

"I will play the role of pouring cold water. We will never go to extremes." Fuller, who is in the "whirlpool" of wealth, said calmly.

Source: Daily Economic News

Author: Xu Lei

★"American Idol" is broadcast simultaneously in China

Source: South Daily

Super Girl Prototype Reality Show

This newspaper reported (Reporter/Guo Shan) The prototype of "Super Girl" has been popular in Europe and the United States for 4 years, and the audience has exceeded 1/2 of the world's population. The fifth season of the show "American Idol" will officially land on Star TV starting from the 21st. Chinese TV viewers will enjoy this show created by "William Kong" (Kong Qingxiang) simultaneously with American viewers at 23:00 every Saturday and Sunday. The legendary top international entertainment reality show.

"American Idol" is a civilian reality show singing competition launched by Fox TV in 2002. In the four years since it aired, it has created a ratings legend in the American television industry. The reason for its popularity is the universal participation without any threshold, and the judges include both Grammy Award winners and the biggest producers in Hollywood. This TV talent show with a relaxed and funny style not only quickly became popular in North America, but was also broadcast live in 85 countries and regions around the world. According to statistics, so far, 33 countries and regions have launched their own reality show columns based on "American Idol", such as China's "Super Girl" and the British "Pop Idol".

Last year, Jane Zhang, who loves singing English songs and can sing "dolphin sounds", was hailed as China's Mariah Carey by fans. Among the celebrities who have become popular on "American Idol", the most famous one is Kelly Klassen, the 2003 champion with a voice that resembles Mariah Carey. Last year, her album "Dreams Come True" ranked third in U.S. album sales with 3.5 million copies sold.

But it was Kong Qingxiang who made Chinese people aware of "American Idol". In 2004, when he was a 21-year-old junior in the Department of Engineering at the University of Berkeley, this young Chinese-American with buck teeth, singing off-key, and clumsy dancing lost his temper because of his "selfless" performance as Latin Prince Ricky on "American Idol." ·Martin became famous overnight for his masterpiece "SheBangs" and "twerking" dance. But recently, the popularity of the "King of Musical Singers" has seriously declined.

The reporter learned that "American Idol", which aired on Star TV, is the latest 2006 season program that is broadcast simultaneously with the United States. The program time every Saturday is consistent with the United States, which is 120 minutes. The daily program is 90 minutes. It was also revealed that, considering the appeal of "William Kong" to the Chinese people, Star TV may make programs from previous years into extras for broadcast.

So, what is the difference between "Supergirl" and "American Idol"?

First, "American Idol" started in 2002, and "Super Girl" started in 2004. Clearly, "American Idol" was ahead of its time.

Second, there are strict age restrictions for "American Idol". The initial age must be between 16 and 24 years old. Anyone below or above this age cannot participate in this event. It wasn't until 2006 that the age limit for "American Idol" was relaxed to 28. "Super Girl" initially did not have a minimum and maximum age limit. Also in 2006, "Super Girl" set a minimum age limit, that is, it cannot be lower than 18 years old, and there is no upper limit.

Thirdly, "American Idol" is actually an amateur singer grand prix competition for American civilians. Its selection method is flexible and diverse. The audience can even have a preliminary audition through phone calls, etc. After the preliminary audition, they will enter the re-examination, and finally the selection process will be carried out by Judges and audience vote. The audition for "Super Girl" involves queuing up to sign up at the specified time, and then being tested one by one in front of the judges.

Fourth: Most of the judges on "American Idol" are Hollywood superstars, ace producers, musicians, etc., such as Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Simon Kewell, etc. . The most important difference is that "American Idol" has no public judges. Although "Super Girl" also has many professional judges, it is up to the readers to decide whether it is influential enough. "Super Girl" has added 31 public judges, who have the right to decide between the two contestants.

Fifth: "American Idol" is about participation, not competition. The protagonists on the stage are definitely the contestants, not the host. Every move made by the contestants during the competition will be broadcast to the whole country. To this end, its participation is so broad that it can receive 500 million votes alone. The total population of the United States is less than 300 million people, and even the U.S. presidential election only received 50.54 million votes. No matter how popular "Super Girl" is, its participation does not have such depth and breadth.

Sixth: "American Idol" is a dual-gender talent show, which means that both men and women can participate and compete on the same stage, while "Supergirl" is a single-sex talent show, and only women can participate.

Seventh: "American Idol" is sung by one person from beginning to end, while "Super Girl" has groups and chorus performances.

Eighth: After the "American Idol" performance, waiting for votes and elimination, but there is no PK between contestants. "Super Girl" has made PK known to all women and children.

Ninth: "American Idol" only has a champion. Based on the number of votes, only the champion with the highest number of audience votes will be selected. The winner will get the opportunity to sign a contract with the record industry giant BMG and become its signed singer. The general procedure is: the judges go around the country to select the favorite contestants, and the selected contestants go to Hollywood to participate in the next round of competition. From these contestants, 24 contestants (12 men and 12 women) are selected to participate in the final semi-finals (usually 12 (only in the fourth season this year there are 24 people). During the rematch, everyone will sing to the people across the country on TV, and then the audience will vote. The person with the lowest votes will be eliminated. In the first 3 weeks, 2 men and 2 women will be eliminated every week, and then everyone will be eliminated. One person is eliminated every week, and the final winner is American Idol. The program of "Super Girl" is different from that of "American Idol". It not only has promotion competitions, such as 10 to 7, 7 to 5, 5 to 3, but also the top 10, top 5, top 3, etc. are selected.

Tenth: Not all competitions of "American Idol" will be broadcast, but every competition of "Super Girl", including preliminaries, etc., will be broadcast.

Appendix: American Idol hosting lineup

Host: Ryan Seacrest

American television host, who is now the host of "American Idol" , he is known as FOX’s Anderson Cooper.

Ryan became interested in radio dramas when he recited the oath of allegiance to his country when he graduated from high school. His career began when he applied for an intern position at WSTR/Star 94, an Atlanta radio station, at the age of 16. His career was very unsatisfactory at first, but later he adjusted the time slot of the show and his show became the most popular hot show. Ryan later moved to Los Angeles to settle down. He won many opportunities, including hosting several shows. Ryan loves cooking and spends his free time in the kitchen. He said that if his career is not satisfactory, he will go to a culinary school! But his career is currently in full swing. In fact, he was named one of the sexiest men in the city by a Los Angeles magazine.

Judges:

The beautiful and sexy one is Paula Abdul

Paula was born in California on June 19, 1962, to parents Harry Abdul and Lorraine Abdul. My parents divorced in 1969. In 1987 Paula wisely spent $30,000 on a record. In 1988, "Knocked Out" ranked 48th on Billboard's Top 100 Albums. The many albums released one after another have brought Paula high praise and large circulation. On October 25, 1996, Paula married Brad Beckerman. Her wedding was featured in magazines and on television. Being a judge on "American Idol" is very challenging for Paula.

The black man’s name is Randy Jackson

Randy was born on June 23, 1956, in Louisiana. In 2004, he appeared in the TV series "Dr. Vegas" and in 2005, he participated in "Kevin Hill". He has been active in the recording industry since the 1980s as a musician, producer and investor. From 1983 to 1986, he served as a temporary bassist in the band Journey. He has been in executive management positions at Columbia Records and MCA Records. He began serving as a judge on "American Idol" in 2002 and is known for his special comments. However, he had gastric bypass surgery in 2003, so he missed the 2004 season and lost at least 100 pounds

The funny British Simon Cowell who seems to be hated by every player

Simon began his career in the record industry in 1979, signing with EMI Music Publishing. Learned how to make a hit record. Then he and his partner Iain Burton created their own brand "Fanfare". In 1989 BMG hired Simon as a consultant. The famous singing group Westlife is his new force. Simon's life is very sweet. According to estimates from "The Sunday Times Rich List", Simon earns millions in a year, thanks to the brand effect of "Pop Idol".