Sharon Waxman: American Idol and the Cool Quotient

You can read the dominance of the cult of American Idol and the demise of the American music business in the cool quotient of performers at the results finale at the Nokia theater last night. Once upon a time, ZZ Top would've been too cool to come on this show. Graham Nash wouldn't have been caught dead singing "Teach Your Children" on a cheesy talent competition. George Michael... well, ok, George Michael would have warmed up the audience, that's probably true. But in general, the range and reach of this show is such - 36 million viewers in the second hour - that no one in the Desperate Times business known as the music industry can afford to ignore this space. Those with records to promote and, though ever less likely, sell - Donna Summer, Bryan Adams, OneRepublic, Seal - dominated the stage. It was, by any measure, a star-studded line-up, including an appearance by Mike Meyers in swami regalia and doing a lame bit with the Davids. Guess who has a movie coming out. I was there, third row, close ... (link)