Esselle has some more info on the WB's AI spoof, Superstar USA. This one's good.

At a taping for the upcoming "bad talent" series, "Superstar USA" producers lied and told audience members that the talentless contestants were actually terminally ill patients from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The producers were worried that if they didn't lie, the audience would laugh or boo the contestants and give away the entire premise of the show, which is to fool really bad singers into thinking they're good.

Now, why did they go and do that? They could have just told them they were indie-rockers and gotten the same reaction. "Aw, Luke Jenner, you almost hit that note! Good for you." *pat pat*

Seriously, though, I kind of like this. It feels like a real-life 80s comedy somehow. And the cruelty just sort of compounds--the guy at the end who thought to himself, "There should be some cancer patients who could actually hold a note" is a perfect reflection of the likely audience reaction. Honestly, as a musician, it's both disheartening and annoying to see AI get so popular that everybody thinks they can get a record deal like this. Not so, and in many cases, not worth trying for. This is a nice counter-weight, perhaps. Although I should reserve judgment until I actually see it.
posted by Mike B. at 12:40 PM 0 comments