Could Adam Lambert Ever Win SA Idols?
This morning on 5fm, SA Idols judge Gareth Cliff, mentioned how much he admires Adam Lambert of American Idol as a singer and performer.
It made me wonder what would have happened if the brilliant Lambert had to enter the SA Idols competition.
Judging by the previous SA Idols competition, I would venture to say…not well at all.
We pretty much have the standard competitiors – R&B/pop or light rock. Most of our top 10 wouldn’t make the top 50 on American Idol
Anything other the usual normally gets nipped in the bud right at the audition stage.
I can just see Randall rolling his eyes, Gareth Cliff snickering, Dave shaking his head ruefully and Mara saying ‘not for me, baby’ or something equally stupid.
If Adam had perhaps made it past those judges by some miracle, I wonder if the South African audience would have reacted well to his personal life.
Would the You/Huisgenoot/Heat/Rapport have driven him off our screens? Would readers of that magazine have run a anti-Adam campaign, with religious leaders getting involved as well?
In South Africa with less than a million people watching and voting on Idols, it’s easier to target one or two competitors than it is in the USA with 30 million viewers.
On the other hand, who knows maybe talent would shine through anyway.
Maybe if there’s a next season of SA Idols we will be more open to singers with different talents.
3 Responses to “Could Adam Lambert Ever Win SA Idols?”
By Adamfan on May 23, 2009 | Reply
I never want to see an artist of Adam Lambert’s calibre subjected to S A Idols and everything that goes with it. It would be soul destroying. The S A public tends to celebrate mediocrity. It was bad enough with American Idols. Although he was by far the most talented contestant ever, in a way I am glad that he did not win because ‘Idols Winner’ does come with a certain stigma attached to it. I hope that Adam will remain true to himself rather than become just another crowd pleaser.
By Abigail Abrahams on May 25, 2009 | Reply
Unfortunately it’s sometimes the only way to get noticed as a singer, but I agree with you, Adamfan. I wouldn’t want to see a brilliant singer get put through our mediocre Idols.
By Chopran on Sep 3, 2009 | Reply
It would have been such a shame if he’d been subjected to SA idols.
I doubt he would have lasted very long if he even made it past the first stages of the auditions. . . .and the public would have villified him. Urgh. Not to mention the fact that any success he might have had while on the show would quickly evaporate as soon as he left it while the SA public busied itself with the next “flavour of the month”.
And I agree with you Adamfan, I’m glad he didn’t win as for the past couple of seasons it seems that the trend is that the runner-up goes on to have much more success than the winner.