News broke today that Lady Gaga would unveil her new ― and sure to be controversial ― video for “Judas” on Fox’s “American Idol.” This premiere follows Kanye West and Katy Perry‘s appearance on the singing competition reality show last week.
So we had to ask: Why the shift back to television? Why isn’t Judas premiering on LadyGaga.com or MTV.com or with Perez? It appears as though music’s superstars are helping TV make a comeback.
The boob tube may have always been the most important form of entertainment in your home, but in recent years, the Internet has been the place to go to see celebs break news and debut new projects. For the past five years, we’ve seen the web dominate, while television networks stayed afloat thanks to reality TV and successful, established programs.
But has the television industry found a way to beat out the ‘net by allowing superstars to be involved in programming? It appears so.
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“Dancing with the Stars” keeps people tuned in to ABC, but the network doesn’t bank only on people tuning in to see celebrities dance. “DWTS” has upped the ante and in recent seasons has been adding high-profile performances to the show (see: Chris Brown’s appearance last month). “DWTS” isn’t the only show drawing people in with high profile artists. “Glee” joined in on the fun and called in the big guns for Season 2. Britney Spears appears in the “Britney/Brittany” episode and pops up in the students’ dream sequences. Glee club member Brittany Pierce pays tribute to Spears by recreating the pop star’s iconic moments.
But, back to “Idol,” as ratings began to dip with the show approaching it’s 10th season, creator Simon Fuller shook things up and added new star power to the show. The addition of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez as replacements for Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi would give the show the boost it needed with fans of Tyler and Lopez (and possibly not of the reality show) tuning in to see the stars judge up-and-comers.
In addition to adding the star power to the judging table, “Idol” has already seen several hi-brow performances from Diddy-Dirty Money, Rihanna, the Black Eyed Peas, Iggy Pop and Kanye and Katy Perry, making “Idol” the place to go to ramp up record sales and promote a new project.
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Moral of the story … Well, it appears as though television and hip-pop stars are joining forces in an effort get the highest ratings and sell the most records possible. It may seem like this concept is nothing new with late-night talk shows being the place for musicians and celebs to perform and promote projects, but it looks like we’ve stepped into a new realm of exposure.
What’s next? Can we expect to see more high profile cameos on our favorite sitcoms? Will more stars jump to reality television while simultaneously continuing a career in music (think Cee Lo, Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera on “The Voice”)? Will double-dipping be the norm? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
