@americanidol @usherraymondiv

I don’t know why but over the years I’ve never really been a huge fan of Usher but I wholeheartedly agree with his recent criticism of FOX’s wildly popular television show, American Idol. The R&B Singer recently told British media outlet, The Guardian that the music star search reality show has hindered progress within the music industry but selling aspiring artists a just add water pipe dream.

“The true art form of music is being lost, because it seems so easy that everyone can do it, and that it can happen overnight,” he told reporters “Television is a lie. It can’t happen overnight. The artist who thinks that it can just comes and goes. The reason why great singers cannot exist in this time is maybe because they’re not properly managed, and maybe they don’t understand the full gamut of what being an entertainer is.”

I think his points can be confirmed by easily examining the short-lived careers of past winners whose 15 minutes of fame fizzled as quickly as one of the show’s commercial breaks.  And although there have been success stories like Carie Underwood, many believe the show only accelerated her inevitable rise to stardom.  Usher believes however that TV isn’t entirely responsible for the problem also blaming irresponsible record companies.

“We’re dealing with an industry that is slowly but surely dying, every day,” he continued. “Then there’s the record companies that are mass-producing these versions of these people; version of this broken art. While it works, because it sells records, it damages the business.”

I think Usher’s points are right on point and can extend into many arenas.  I think the advent of reality TV has made success in so many different arenas seem way to easy.  No, Ty Pennington and the Extreme Makeover Home Edition crew isn’t coming to your home to turn your life around and no, you’re not going to be the Apprentice and go work for one of Donald Trump‘s companies.  While I’m a firm believer in dreaming, people need to remember TV is entertainment and the harsh and unfortunate bioproducts of success are not sexy so they don’t make it past the edit room floor.