American Idol Contract

I've never been a big fan of American Idol. I've seen a show here and there but usually wind up bored. I stumbled into the middle of season five and was blown away by Taylor Hicks. I have cast only one vote ever in connection with the show, and it was for Hicks the night he sang "Trouble". Gorgeous.

Despite his obvious talent, he was labeled the underdog but went on to win the whole damned thing in the end.

Now that I'm a fan of TH, I've been curious about that American Idol contract. I had no clue what a closely guarded secret that sucker is. But I did find some info from 2002 that gives me an idea of how tight those AI reins are on the winner.

The following are excerpts from: http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/feature/2002/09/18/idol_contract/index.html:

Slaves of Celebrity
Sep 18, 2002
by Eric Olsen

"Kelly Clarkson has a golden future, right? Maybe so. But the 'American Idol' winner and her fellow finalists had to sign virtually their entire careers away to the show's producers for one shot at stardom.

Clarkson and the other finalists signed an unusually onerous contract with 19 Group, the production company headed by British pop entrepreneur Simon Fuller. These young performers are wrapped up for recording, management and merchandising under the most restrictive terms imaginable: Their careers are literally not their own.

Since 19 and Fox have declined to respond to questions about their contract with Clarkson and the other finalists, or the extent to which they control their careers, perhaps the best place to look is the public record.

According to the version of the contract one entertainment lawyer posted to the Internet, Fuller and his company own the names, likenesses, voices and personal histories of the 'Idol' finalists, 'in or in connection with' the show, forever. 19 Group can use that material however it wants, even if it's false, embarrassing or damaging.

If contestants reveal anything to anyone about the workings of the show or the contract they signed, they're liable for damages 'in excess of $5 million.'

Kenneth Freundlich, a prominent Los Angeles entertainment lawyer who has examined the 14-page contract that was presumably signed by all the 'American Idol' contestants, says, that Clarkson and her fellow finalists are 'surrounded by what appears to be the worst rendition of the industry, after being voted on by a public with no knowledge of the story within the story.' How many of the millions of viewers who voted for Clarkson or any other contestant, he wonders, would willingly have signed their own sons and daughters up for such a career of music-industry servitude?"

So it's rumored that Hicks wasn't dropped by the label, rather he was able to get out of his contract, opting for more creative freedom.

I give him a lot of credit for standing up for musical integrity. I've said before that being unwilling to just shut up and do as you're told will make you an unpopular guy. But it makes me want to support his career even more. He's fighting to create music that MEANS something, that's about more than money.

Watch for his next CD and give the guy a chance. It seems to me the fight for the underdog isn't over yet.