As most EDM fans would be aware, Simon Cowell is reportedly creating a talent show based around DJ’s as opposed to X Factor and American Idol which highlight singing talent. I try to think of one positive that can be materialized from this concept, but honestly there isn’t one. To analyze and rant about this subject I’m going to break this abysmal idea down into some categories and we will see where we end up.
Genre: I find it hard to judge a show with such a wide variety of styles and possibilities present. Of course with a show like American Idol one can easily judge a singer based on their vocal talents. The merits of a singer can be measured and there isn’t a real way to dispute someone’s power to bring out their pipes and sing a beautiful moving melody. On the other hand a DJ competition would be home to several genres of music. Dubstep, trance, house and electro, these four (very broad) genres alone are so differing that for one to judge them as separate entities it would be impossible. A dubstep DJ dropping a rippling beat at the right moment is much different then a trance artist who can meld beautiful songs together seamlessly. A house artist plays big clubby tunes back to back to get a crowd riled whereas a hard core electro DJ spins together complex sounds and pummels the audience with a hard drum tone. How would a celebrity judge who produces house music react to a dubstep artist competing on the show, or an electro host react to a deep trance DJ?
Structure: The DJ’s I go to see live are ones whom I already know of, and respect their taste in music sensibility, or the songs the produce themselves? Will the show revolve around the talents of DJ’s who can mix on several decks and showcase amazing live coordination skills, or will it rather highlight artist who create their own material they produce themselves? I don’t think the mainstream audience (that this show will clearly target) cares about the talent of a DJ doing his live work, rather they care about big house tunes that all their friends listen to while at a party, or while hitting the local club on a friday night after school. And on that note, how in the hell is a deep trance, or a hardstyle artist going to connect with the audience who will watch this show? Why is a 15 year old girl going to pay attention to somebody mixing Paul Van Dyk music when her and her friends all listen to Afrojack and Skrillex?
Structure: The DJ’s I go to see live are ones whom I already know of, and respect their taste in music sensibility, or the songs the produce themselves? Will the show revolve around the talents of DJ’s who can mix on several decks and showcase amazing live coordination skills, or will it rather highlight artist who create their own material they produce themselves? I don’t think the mainstream audience (that this show will clearly target) cares about the talent of a DJ doing his live work, rather they care about big house tunes that all their friends listen to while at a party, or while hitting the local club on a friday night after school. And on that note, how in the hell is a deep trance, or a hardstyle artist going to connect with the audience who will watch this show? Why is a 15 year old girl going to pay attention to somebody mixing Paul Van Dyk music when her and her friends all listen to Afrojack and Skrillex?
Judges: There’s going to be 3 judges, that’s just the way all these shows go. And to clarify and give some hints to where the show is going, Wolfgang Gartner just so happily gave a little tid bit of information on who the judges could be. Mr Youngman stated “i know who the judges are. one of them is very famous, speaks very poor english, and is a human cheese dispenser. one of them is probably just laughing his way all the way to the bank and not taking it seriously. the other pair is a total wild card.” The first judge is clearly David Guetta. It could have been a play on words and was referring to deadmau5, but later Wolfgang went on to clarify Joel is not involved in the show. It’s typical that Guetta would be involved in something like this anyways (I’m not going to start a rant about him, so lets just all resent the guy in our minds). The DJ “laughing his way all the way to the bank” could be a big name classic DJ like Carl Cox, Norman Cook or Tiesto. These guys have been mainstays in the industry for years and can’t possibly tarnish their reputation in any way at this point. Plus none of them would take it seriously as they are all way above and beyond a prime-time TV show such as this. Lastly Wolfgang Gartner speaks of a DJ duo who are a wild card. My only guess could be LMFAO as they have gone mainstream, they bring more popularity to the show by being teen friendly, and hell they aren’t real DJ’s anyways so of course they would be involved in this shit. Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if the lineup is actually Nervo to add females to the judging panel, Carl Cox to fill in for Randy Jackson, and David Guetta because he has mainstream appeal. I wouldn’t be surprised if Benny Benassi and Martin Solveig get involved at one point or another as well.
I was going to do a demographic category too, but we all know who this shows target audience is. All I can say is that I hate how our little underground world of dance music is being thrown into the spotlight and turned into a spectacle for the masses. It’s a fun genre of music to pay attention to, listen to and move to. It’s just sad that the industry is taking it this way when it certainly was fine without the press and focus.
I was going to do a demographic category too, but we all know who this shows target audience is. All I can say is that I hate how our little underground world of dance music is being thrown into the spotlight and turned into a spectacle for the masses. It’s a fun genre of music to pay attention to, listen to and move to. It’s just sad that the industry is taking it this way when it certainly was fine without the press and focus.
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