In the past ten years, American Idol has gone from a glorified karaoke competition to a weekly spectacle that continues to rival Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour. I turned to Cutting Edge alum and Idol season one runner-up Justin Guarini for some expert insight into the evolution of Fox’s search for a superstar.

Syd: What would you consider to be the biggest changes that Idol has undergone over the past ten years?

Justin: The biggest change (and most obvious) is the production value. The basic principal has stayed the same. The show finds amazing singers from “Anytown, USA,” puts them through the toughest test of their entertainment lives, and lets America choose who it feels is the very best. The bells and whistles have all been placed around that over the years. For example, there is now a bigger stage with more lights, a huge orchestra, iTunes downloads of the contestants’ latest performance, bigger and longer national tours, and the new judges. But the beauty for me will always be that the show doesn’t work without the talent and the perseverance of the performers who give their all week in and week out.

Syd: What is the effect of this change?

Justin: Ha! More for the kids to do each week! Seriously, they work like mad doing interviews, recordings for iTunes, learning multiple songs, and flying around here and there. It was crazy my year. Now, it’s just insane. But they manage to make it work, and I’m amazed by them.

Syd: Do you miss any aspects of the show that have been changed since season one?

Justin: I love how [the format] has grown and changed; however, I miss the impact that the first season had on everyone from the performers to people all over the world who got to be a part of it’s magic.

So there you go. According to Cutting Edge’s resident expert, the show’s increased production value has created the American Idol with which we are familiar today. What do you think have been some of the major changes to the Idol format since season one? Do you miss the simplicity of Idol at its beginning or prefer the extravaganza and celebrity mentors that flow across our television screens on Wednesday and Thursday nights?

Thank you to Justin for taking the time to answer my questions.

~Sydney Fenkell

More on Justin Guarini and Cutting Edge Entertainment

www.JustinGuarini.com

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

It was the Summer of 2003…

I’ll never forget when Craig invited me to the after party for the premiere of “From Justin to Kelly,” starring none other than Cutting Edge Entertainment  alum Justin Guarini and American Idol,  Kelly Clarkson. I was fourteen at the time and a big fan of Justin’s. Needless to say, I was so excited to be at the premiere and to experience everything that it entailed – flashing paparazzi cameras, red carpet, reporters, cameramen, and even a man holding an umbrella for Justin to shield him from the rain as he signed autographs for fans. But little did I know that the best part of my night was going to take place after the credits had started rolling.

After the movie had finished, I had started to walk out into the lobby of the theater. As I was walking, I heard Craig, who I had previously known, calling my name. He asked me where my mom was, I showed him, and he immediately ran over to talk to her.

About six minutes later, Craig came back over to where I was standing and said, “Syddi, come with me. We are going to the after party.” As I heard what he said, I couldn’t believe it. Craig knew how much it meant to me to meet Justin, stood out in the rain with me for twenty minutes while Justin finished signing autographs. Was he really going to take me to the after party too?

Sure enough, a few minutes later I was in Craig’s car with two other Cutting Edge staff members at the time, Monica and Alison. I hadn’t met either of them before, but they immediately made me feel as if I had known them forever.

When we got inside the restaurant where the party was taking place, I was quickly introduced to the rest of the Cutting Edge family. Once again, everyone who I met was beyond friendly, and not to mention, an amazing dancer as well. I couldn’t have asked for a more fun group of people to spend the night with.
I also got a chance to talk to Justin again. He remembered me from earlier and made sure that we got a picture together.

Just before the night was over, Craig found me again. This time, he wanted to make sure that I met Kelly Clarkson. We pushed through the crowd, and he introduced me to her and took a picture of us together.
My night at the From Justin to Kelly premiere and after party is one that I still tell my friends about to this day. Thanks, Craig, for making it so amazing.

-Sydney Fenkell

www.cuttingedgedjs.com

As I was on my way to Target (the closest store to my house that sells CDs), I got a text message from my friend asking me what I was doing. Not wanting to get distracted from my mission, I sent back a quick text telling him what I was doing. His response: “You’re really going to buy a CD? Who does that anymore?”

This got me thinking. Who really does buy CDs anymore? And better yet, why was I going to buy a CD?

Before the days of iTunes, my friends and I always bought CDs. Sometimes, just as I did today, we would go into a store with a specific CD in mind, and other times we would browse through titles and artists until we found one that looked appealing. Then, we would make our parents play the CD on the drive home from the mall or wherever we were as we sat in the backseat looking at the liner notes and talking about if we liked the design of the album cover.

While you can browse through a digital music store and see images of album covers, you never actually walk away with a tangible object. And it was obviously this tangible object that I really wanted this morning, or I could have easily just downloaded the CD like I usually do. But why?

After some more thinking, I realized that the CD itself is more than just a disc with music on it. It is a connection to an artist who I support. Just like people still go to concerts to see an artist perform and to connect with him or her for a few hours, I wanted the officially released CD. It simply has more value to me than some files on my computer.

Not to say that digital music doesn’t have its benefits. More often than not, it is far easier to click a button to buy an album rather than go to a store and hope they have the one that you are looking for. It is also much more convenient to take an iPod away with you for the weekend rather than a CD player and a case of CDs. Or, in the case of Cutting Edge, it is much simpler to take a laptop instead of cases and cases of CDs to a party (see the post ‘The Best DJ Music Library In Philadelphia‘).

In the end, technology definitely has its benefits. But sometimes the old fashioned way really is better.

-Sydney Fenkell

www.cuttingedgedjs.com