The TEENS have their say! And anyone who was born after 1961. I checked! Not that I was planning to vote, or anything. No, seriously, I wasn’t!
The Teen Choice Awards will air on FOX, August 4, 8 pm. The show, hosted by teen fav Miley Cyrus, has announced the nominees. See which Idols are nominated for what, After the JUMP…
… pssst, David Cook, Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood all made the list…
Idols represent!
- Choice TV: Reality Music Competition - American Idol
- Choice TV: Personality - Ryan Seacrest, American Idol; E! News
- Choice TV: Personality - Simon Cowell, American Idol
- Choice TV: Reality Dance - America’s Best Dance Crew - (Randy Jackson)
- Choice TV: Reality Dance - So You Think You Can dance (produced by 19E, featuring Nigel Lythgoe)
- Choice TV: Breakout Show - America’s Best Dance Crew (produced by Randy Jackson)
- Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star - David Cook, American Idol
- Choice Music Hook-Up:: Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown, “No Air”
- Choice Music: Breakout Artist - Jordin Sparks
- Choice Music: Love Song - Chris Brown & Jordin Sparks, “No Air”
- Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female - Carrie Underwood
Related Posts
1961! I thought I was getting old being born in the mid 70’s! I guess I’m still young enough to vote for teen choice awards.
Oh $hi!. One year too old, lol.
I tried to vote, but it said you must be between 13 and 19 years of age. Bummer.
rats. i wish Archie was nomited against cook. that would be interesting….
If by “interesting” you mean “a bloodbath”, then yes, it would be very interesting. The Archies are on the warpath as we speak, they have a mass e-mailing campaign to the Teen Choice e-mail, and they are demanding that Archie be added to the list.
Anyone want to bet on their chances?
I really pity the poor sucker who has to reply to all of these rabid, infuriated mails.
Ok- so if you type in your bday (mine in the 70s), it says “Sorry, you do not qualify to vote according to the rules of voting.”
Oh, that won’t end well. That’s one of those things that gets you made fun of in the press and compared to the Claymates.
Being a huge pain in the ass to reporters, dj’s, and television producers never gets you what you want and it reflects badly on the person you’re trying to support.
I was actually tempted to “modify” my birthday for this one. Someone get me in one of those programs. *hangs head in shame*
Anyway, I don’t know how big of a fanbase he has among teens. This should be very interesting.
As to the Archies on the warpath, maybe someone in that circle should say that they should try to play nice with the Teen Choice Awards people lest they ruin Archie’s chances of ever getting on that ballot.
Exactly. My gosh sometimes this sort of thing can backfire. I’m sure that will turn out as well as ringing peoples doorbells and pandering for votes the week of the finale.
My daughter votes every year in these awards so I’m sure sure she’ll throw votes Cookie’s way and for the Jonas Brothers too. That doesnt mean I won’t be modifying my age LOL
What is that “tempted” you speak of?
Well, DC makes me act like I’m 14, so for me, that qualifies.
No?
LOL
Oh, I don’t think there’s any reasoning with the Archies at this point. They seem to think “the more, the better”. Including multiple e-mail addresses and actually contacting some media outlets to help them “get the word out”.
Oh well.
Hey you are only as old as you feel, right? Age is just a number? Right? Work with me, people!
Regarding the Archies, yeah that is unfortunate. He has enough on his plate without a fanbase going bonkers on the press =(
I qualify! Hah. Someone remind me to vote for DC every day, now.
i think this:
is kind of lame.
If it were the other way around with Archie getting a nomination and Cookie not…there would be cookies on the same warparth, I suspect, so let’s be careful not to single out Archie’s fans as some special breed of crazy. I have no doubt there are Archies who think that spamming is lame. Which it is. Very lame.
Those types of campaigns are always a bad idea.
Am I the only one who gritted their teeth at this nomination. I know I would like to see David C have lots of teen fans - but I don’t really want to see him on a level with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. I am a Cook fan 100% - not an Archie at all - but really Archie is a better fit with this type of crowd. That said - I guess this is one of those things where any publicity is good publicity.
Well, if he wins it will go some way toward showing people that he appeals to Cubs as well as Cougars.
I’m for him winning everything from a Grammy to Wimbleton. In the elf boots.
Ya know, I think there’s a special breed of crazy in every AI fanbase. I also think their numbers are small, yet they’re the most vocal. We’ve all seen them, the ones who think it’s their personal mission to promote their favorite. They cannot understand why the whole world doesn’t see the specialness of their unique and worshipped Idol.
They post like mad on the fansites. They obsess over radio spins and spam dj’s nationwide. They verbally attack the comments section of any less than stellar review. They write nasty reviews on amazon for their “arch rival’s” new cd release.
And all of that effort accomplishes nothing, except to make them look like whackadoodles. You cannot create a grass roots campaign for someone who’s visibility is already off the charts. You can’t create a truly organic “buzz” around an artist who has been on the most watched television show in the world.
These contestants will succeed or fail based on a lot of factors. But one of those factors will not be the street-teaming of a handful of fans armed with nothing but a laptop.
So yeah, the loonies come out for each and every one of these contestants. And they make themselves heard all over the internet. But I’ve never seen any of these schemes do anything other than inflict damage.
I don’t necessarily think that Cookie is a bad fit for the teen crowd (tween would be a bad fit, not teens). Teens eat up Chris Daughtry with a spoon and it hasn’t hurt him (or his “credibility”) in the least. The way I look at it, the broader the base ( a la Kelly, Carrie, Daughtry) the better. Just so long as no Disney noms come his way (that would be the perfect fit for Archie).
I love me some Cook, but $10 says The Hills dude wins.
What she said! :).
LOL, yeah. I highly doubt DC will win. I might be voting in vain…
I deal with tweens daily, my money is on Ryan Scheckler. Teen girls are nuts about him.
Did I hear him say, “Go Celtics,” right at the end of that tape? I’m sure I did. Also, he said, “Paul Pierce for MVP.” Maybe the rest of you guys didn’t catch all that.
Reminds me of the story of one of the posters in Rickey’s before of a woman going house to house to ask people to vote for an AI contestant. All sorts of wrong, but it’s her life to live so who am I to judge. That said, I laughed hard to like 15 minutes at that one.
No worries on the crazy being exclusive to the Archies. I’m raising my hand right now and copping to my Cookie “issues”. heheh.
Seriously though, the crazy is present in any sort of fanbase. What I’m concerned with is that nobody is telling the more let’s use the term “enthusiastic” of the bunch to calm down lest they piss off people. But getting off topic here so, back to Cookie… I’m thinking if I ever lose my mind, my fangirl age would probably be a full decade off at 15.
I’m asking this in earnest… not to stir trouble. I want to know what exactly the Claymates have done that backfired on them, and exactly how it backfired? Because isn’t Clay one of the best selling idols out there? In WHAT ways has it backfired?
I am an archie, and I read these comments, comparing our fanbase with the claymates, with warnings to heed b/c our efforts can backfire. And I ask in EARNEST… what exactly has happened in the past (and to whom, Clay, and who else?) that backfired on the artist??? I honestly honestly want to know… please state your answer without stirring the pot. I just want to know b/c this is my first time experiencing uber-fandom and I want to heed the warnings but I want something to go by first. Thanks sooo much!!!
I think the Claymates pissed off too many program directors (the guys that pick the music that the DJ’s play, because the DJ’s have very little input into what they play) with constant requesting and mama-emails defending any little slight they felt was handed out. It backfired in that he has little to no radio play — and it seems they don’t want to go near his new cd either.
I think it all boiled down to the constant requesting to the stations to play Clay’s songs — and they knew when people were calling in from different areas of country — not even from their listening area. OK, Mrs. Claymate in area code 617, why are you calling to request Clay’s new song in Oregon? They knew an organized effort when they saw it, and didn’t like it one bit.
I don’t even want to talk about spamming polls, and the talk about about how many cd’s they’ve bought (6, 8, 10?) and artifically inflate sales numbers. Now I know sales are sales — but I’ve seen the same talk in the Archie thread about buying downloads. Kinda crazy. Let’s donate CD’s to the troops.. let’s donate cd’s to toys for tots… all good causes, yes — but it doesn’t do anything much for radio, which seems to be the real end to the means.
Wfowfowfo,
Thanks. another question though.. how do you know it was claymates calling radio stations that made them play their music less? have program directors openly said that is why they don’t play him that much? Because maybe they just don’t like his music, is why they don’t play it. Is that a possibility at all? or are these just assumptions? Seriously i’m asking to get to the bottom of this, not to argue or start a fan war. Anybody know the real answers and have good backup?
Mj,
I’d love to get your take on this too.. b/c I have seen you posting several times that this kind of behavior backfires.. what have you seen specifically? And again, is there any “proof” that this happens?
(Oops. Above, I have a comment on the wrong thread, and I can’t seem to edit. Sorry ’bout that.)
Nope. It’s all good. Johnny Depp and Will Smith and Justin Timberlake win these types of awards and it doesn’t hurt them a bit.
Well, I don’t have any definitive proof for you, but I think if you do some digging, you’ll probably find it. People who work in radio talk to their friends, post comments on blogs, etc. just like everyone else. A few years ago there was ample talk about how the program directors in general felt about the Claymates. There was enough smoke to indicate fire. And well, Clay sure doesn’t get any radio love, regardless of how many cd’s he sells. So, I’m inclined to believe the rumors.
Mostly, as far as advice goes for the rabid fans, I’d go back to the old adage - never get in a pissing match with a newspaper editor. He’s got a 100,000 readers and you’ve got your wife, your best friend and your dog. That’s a fight you can’t win.
Have you heard what some radio dj’s do to people who send in poorly written, kind of crazy e-mails? On a variety of subjects, not just idol related of course. They skewer those people on air. I would just say it’s not good to provoke someone who has a microphone, a morning show and a few hundred thousand listeners. They’ll make you sound like an idiot, even when you’re not.
This can also be said for overly defensive comments left on online articles. Is there someone who writes an online colmumn about AI that hasn’t begun at least one such piece with “now I know this will get me in trouble with the claymates, but…”. Because they’re going to keep writing articles that hundreds of thousands of people are going to continue to read - and that scathing comment from the over-invested fan is now about 16 pages back and no one will see. So, yeah, you can’t really win that one either.
I’m not trying to single out the claymates either, many other fanbases have made the same mistakes. The claymates are just more famous I guess lol.
And this one is my personal pet peeve. Here’s a news flash - soldiers in the desert are not carrying cd players! There are a wealth of supplies that the soldiers would love to have sent to them - in fact you can go to anysoldier.org and find that information any time you want. Someone find me the words “any AI contestant cd” on any of those request lists. I’m a Taylor fan and I must admit that the soul patrol took this one to nauseating heights when sending cd’s wasn’t enough - but they also sent his freaking book. Some Daughtry fans had a big send the troops cds drive too, so honestly I think this lunacy occurs in every fanbase.
And Toys for Tots? For real? These are kids who have nothing. This may be the only toy they get for Christmas. And you think they want a Jordin Sparks cd? No idiots, they want some star wars legos and some barbies.
Hmm, sorry for the rant!
Thanks Spenser for the long explanation.. I appreciate it! If anybody else has something else to add, I’d love to hear it.
As for the toys for tots and donate cds to the troops, I can guarantee you that there is no talk of that sort amongst any archie I know. At first I thought the comment was directed at archies, and was a little annoyed by that.. but I can assure you that this isn’t going to happen, at least where I’m concerned. As for the ringing the doorbell story on Rickey’s, I don’t recall that either. If it was stated, I’m sure it was just a joke, or at best an exaggeration. Just wanted to set all that straight.
Virgii, I think I’ve seen this happen in at least 5 or 6 fanbases, so no I wasn’t directing that toward the Archies. But, after his cd comes out and it gets close to Christmas, don’t be surprised to see this idea pop up on the Archie fansites. Then, you can expect about 200 responses about what a BRILLIANT idea it is and what a true humanitarian the poster who suggested it is LOL.
Spense, you own my soul for this. Half of me can’t believe that people would do this, and the half is not shocked at all.
LOL, Spenser,
Well I’ll be on guard when that idea comes up during Christmas, and I’ll make sure to knock it down to the ground! Thanks for that warning!
I truly don’t see anything wrong in a grassroots campaign to get Archie on the ballot. If youngsters want to do that fine.
I will not fake a profile and lie to be able to vote, or pretend that I am something that I am not to that end. If the Archie fans are doing that, it’s silly.
That is the things that Claymates did in the past. From voting online for Clay’s songs on MTV and pretending to be teens and young adults. Calling all stations to request whether in his genre, or their locale or not. Accusing programme directors and others of a vast conspiracy to keep clean music from the listening audience. From spamming every poll known to man (well, all idol fans are doing that now), letter writing campaigns. Some idiot started a myspace page with eff you Clive Davis rants. Some called some of his handlers and demanded that Clay be treated better. Some wanted to raise money to buy him out of his contract so that he could go elsewhere because his record company was in on the conspiracy to wreck his career. This is all stuff I personally witnessed and is public record.
That is just a part of the insanity that claymates rained on Clay’s career. Maybe it didn’t make any negative difference, but surely he is just about as well known for his crazed fanbase than as his singing. He attests to that in many interviews.
All idol fanbases need to take heed, there is a delicate line between being supportive, and overstepping boundries. Clay’s and Archie’s fans are not the only ones doing stuff like this. All of them need to back off. This is a cautionary tale.
Thanks Abbysee!
Thanks so much for your reply too! I’m very appreciative for the info, b/c like I said I have never really experienced uber-fandom so all of this is new to me. So thanks for filling me in with the warnings and such too!
If anybody else has more to add or elaborate on, I’d so appreciate it.
Just wanted to put in my .02 on the whole “rabid fanbase” topic.
I’m not targeting any particular fan base (I hang my head while admitting to once being involved with one); I just think the Claymates are probably the most notorious and make for the best example of how these things can go horribly wrong.
Clay’s music has never been exceptionally Top 40 friendly but probably could have done OK on AC, were it not for overzealous fans. They weren’t the only ones to kill their favorite on radio; the Soul Patrol actually received a “cease calling radio stations” request from Taylor’s then-label.
The multiple purchasing strategies don’t work out too well either. As an example: Clay. His first album sold over 2 million; Christmas album did reasonably well - not sure of the total on that one; second original material (but mostly covers) album barely went gold; his latest effort is falling off the charts without hitting 200k. This is what happens when a fan base makes a bad name for themselves (and, unintentionally, the artist they are trying to help). The fan base does not expand because radio, video and media in general will end up slamming the artist and often turning them into a punchline. Later on down the road, those original fans lose interest as well and it all goes downhill from there.
Mass e-mailing and poll spamming (which many bases do; some just more than others) doesn’t quite work either. When Clay Aiken wins every poll regardless of who he is up against, the validity of the poll is thrown right out the window. Hell, I (and everyone I know) don’t even bother voting on polls if Clay (and/or a couple others) are listed for consideration. The poll becomes a joke. And writers don’t take too kindly to constant e-mailing in “defense” of one’s favorite. I wish I could find the article that stated: The Soul Patrol make up for Taylor Hicks’ lack of sales with online comments.
As for Clay’s “impressive” sales, they aren’t that impressive at all. His first album did as well as Kelly’s first (at a time when albums generally sold much more than that), but he sells next to nothing now. And, when compared to Kelly’s subsequent sales (even My December sold more than Clay’s last two efforts), Carrie’s sales or Daughtry’s sales, his numbers look even shabbier. These artists have a marketable look and sound and were able to expand their fan bases after AI (which is truly what makes the career). Ironically (or not), I don’t know of any bad coverage on any of their original fan bases either.
It’s really quite simple. If your LOCAL radio station is playing your favorite’s song already, go ahead and request (but not obsessively). If your favorite gets a bad review or is otherwise skewered in the press, shrug it off and move on. If your favorite is listed on a poll or is nominated for an award and you can legitimately vote, go ahead. Don’t make a nuisance of yourself (or your favorite by association). Don’t make demands of radio programmers, newspaper/online/magazine writers, television producers or talent/label management. Accept that their future is out of your hands and is now in the hands of the general public. Feel free to introduce your favorite’s music to other people you know (IF they want to listen). Don’t make the general public grow to have a strong dislike toward them before they hear a note by overkill.
Perhaps that was more than .02, but I just call it like it is.
If anyone cares to listen, great. If not, well, like my grandma always said, “The best lessons in life are the ones you teach yourself.”
Chachi, I promise to only use your soul for good :)
sherryw,
Thanks sooo much for posting that. I am definitely soaking all that you are all saying. it’s all very interesting to read b/c i have read little comments here and there that rabid fanbases can kill a career, or at least hurt them, and i didn’t know where that came from b/c like i said, this is really my first year going crazy on ai related sites so this is all new to me. thanks soo much.
Virgii5, I am a Bo Bice fan. When he lost to Carrie in Season 4, one of the claymates was also a Bo fan. She came on his website and posted a lot of info. She said pretty much what sherryw above said. She felt the claymates had hurt more then helped clay with their obsessive ways and advised Bo’s fans not to fall into the same trap.
I read an article from a reporter in Taylor’s hometown. He couldnt see how in the world Taylor won AI and posted how Taylor would come into the radio station asking them to play his music and didn’t want to take no for an answer. It was a long article, not slamming Taylor, but more of a ” I just don’t get it” article. I replied with an equally long article explaining why Taylor’s fans loved him and his music. I was very polite, called no names or made no demands, etc. Just wrote it from my heart. He replied back promptly and very nicely saying he appreciated my input and it gave him another side to the equation. He also thanked me for being polite as he had received a barrage of emails from the Soul Patrol that were down right rude and angry. He said in the email, that conduct would only hurt Taylor in the long run. I think Archie will do just fine and really wouldnt want his fans to conduct themselves other then politely, because he is so polite and sweet himself.
Thanks TylerWV!
Really, I’m appreciating all of your input into this… this is great. Your cautionary tales are greatly appreciated!
I don’ t know if anybody is still reading this … but I had one more question. What is you all’s opinions on how being a “fantard” can affect the singer if they are a really talented one that has a good chance of becoming very successful anyways? I’m asking, b/c I wonder if maybe Bo or Clay or Hick’s fans inflicted “damage” but maybe the singers were just not talented enough (or whatever, appealing enough) to make it big anyways? (and by big, that is subjective b/c some will say that clay is successful no matter what you tell them) I hope that makes sense.
It’s real simple….let the record label and the promoters, that get paid big bucks to promote an artist, do their jobs. Do not spam radio stations, spam on-line polls, reply to every article, good or bad, about an idol, and DO NOT STREET TEAM. No matter how ‘good’ an artist is, when this shit happens it creates a VERY NEGATIVE association with the singer. You piss off the media and the radio stations and you can damage a career in a heartbeat. JUST DON’T DO IT!!!!
Virgii, I think a couple of those guys were extremely talented enough. In the case of one of those guys, his fans seem to think there was a concerted effort to keep him down, so they thought that they could counteract such machinations. They were right in the short term, not so much in the long term.
I think it’s also important to remember that it takes more than talent to “make it big”. And….what one person loves, many more people may dislike. It can’t be forced on people. You just have to let the chips fall where they may. From my own experience, a fan base and/or an individual is setting themselves up for disappointment by convincing themselves of “huge” stardom for their favorite based on pure talent. If only the music industry were that simple, there would be a lot more successful artists. Anything that keeps your favorite visible and accessible can be viewed as a success. But a fan base that causes an artist to have a “reputation” before they even open their mouths WILL turn potential fans in the other direction.
In other words, 2 plus 2 will still equal 4, no matter how many times you ask the question.