First, a lot of what you've posted I agree with, these are just a few things that stuck out that I had to respond to.
I've now seen this pointed out several times in this thread. And each time I read it I think, how sad a commentary is it on a genre, that we award someone special points for writing their own music. I know that probably reads like sarcasm, but it's not intended as such. I've spent a lot of time on UM over the years and have never once heard someone say about a Metal band, "They write their own songs."
You never hear it simply because writing your own songs is "normal" for a metal band, so there's no need to state it. But that doesn't mean that trait can be quantified as a good or bad thing. If I'm looking for the best possible music experience, I can imagine plenty of occasions where combining writer and performer in one person is a bad thing. I mean, you don't want your architect framing out your house, or your plumber doing lighting design, do you? So the dividing singers and songwriters as is common in the "pop" world can make a lot of sense. On the other hand, at times combining the roles may give an authenticity to performances that would otherwise be impossible to create. Though, in the metal world, usually 4/5ths of the band is playing someone else's song anyway, and if genuine authenticity is what we require, wouldn't we demand to see screenwriters acting in movies?
I'm not allowed to point out the inverse relationship between musical talent and popularity?
You're allowed to point it out, but I don't know how you could possibly demonstrate that claim. First, as you said yourself, "talent" is pretty hard to define. Then, there are tons of shitty, talentless and unpopular bands. I won't claim the opposite (that there is a positive correlation between talent and popularity), but I'd say that claim could be argued just as well as yours.
The other implication you can draw from that statement, is that the only way our American Idol culture is going to grant Andre and Elton that wide a national audience, is if they're performing with Mary J. Blige and Lady Gaga.
Don't know if you're aware of this or not, but of those four, Lady Gaga is the only one (thus far!) who hasn't been a prominently-featured guest on American Idol. Andrea and Elton have been pimped heavily (there was even just a rumor that Elton will replace Simon Cowell!)
Again, if you think if ABC was running a concert featuring Elton and Andre, while CBS was running one featuring Mary and Lady Gaga, that ABC would garner higher ratings, raise your hand.
*raises hand*! Kids don't watch network TV anymore, only old people do.
Neil
