“In the future, everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” – Andy Warhol, while appearing in a program featuring an exhibition of his work at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden in 1968.
For many, the concept of fame is at once elusive, and yet simultaneously, insatiable and beguiling – to be loved, adored, and admired by millions of strangers – to the extent those in dogged pursuit are willing to sacrifice their priceless integrity for its treasures of material spoils.
In the post-modern age, one finds that the concept of fame has been compromised, not so much predicated on meretricious achievement, but rather, considerably more superficial and ulterior factors.
With this installment, one shall feature a demonstrative, but brief portrait, of an individual whose quixotic pursuit and rather unlikely eclipse of glorious fame, however short-lived, was no doubt manufactured for reasons other than inherent talents.
For many seasons, the “reality” television talent show known as American idol has held the attentions of millions of enthralled Americans utterly captive. Predicated on the concept of discovering and featuring alleged amateur singing talent and musical artists, the cornerstone of the show’s theme is laid upon the foundation of the ages old yet inescapably persistent myth of the “American Dream” – that indeed, anyone through perseverance and intrepid strength of will can achieve fame, fortune, and renown.
For the audience, there exists the vicarious thrill of being held captive to intriguing and sometimes even tragic human interest stories, and usually, a contestant’s thrilling backstory is perhaps just as significant, if not more paramount, than their demonstrated talents.
Nevertheless, like any corporate owned and distributed product of the entertainment industry, the corporate brand of “American Idol” and its content is subject to the same meticulous quality control. Therefore, the show’s contestants are strictly bound to a corporate contract’s strict terms and conditions, and though many of the featured contestants may appear to be organically plucked from the obscurity of America’s hinterlands and thrust into the Hollywood limelight, the truth is often diametrically opposed to the prevailing perception.
Objectively, however – absent of the searing lights, the prepackaged glitz and glamour, and the often trumped up backstories of those posed as the girl and boy next door grasping for the American dream – American Idol is merely a slicked up karaoke spectacle one might witness taking place down the street at one’s local bar and grille. Except – American Idol takes place on a state of the art Burbank soundstage equipped with the finest and most highly skilled sound and production engineers, with soft drink endorsements from Coca-Cola corporation substituted for the foamy kegs of Budweiser and ghastly platters of greasy chicken wings.
And, rest assured folks, though the performances one may witness at the local bar and grille may be performed by inebriated working class stiffs who couldn’t carry an entire tune aided with Samsonite luggage, their performances are far more likely to be genuine.
What does one mean by that – exactly?
American Idol does not feature live performances – but performers miming to prerecorded ones. Though this may not represent a profound revelation to some, what one may not be aware is how this is flawlessly executed without sacrificing the illusion of a “live” performance. In the interest of fairness, one is not only indicting the performers chosen to perform on American Idol, for this truly deceptive practice expands beyond the boundaries of this popular reality television show to encompass perhaps the entirety of the entertainment industry.
Many, of course, are by now aware that Beyoncé Knowles’ performance of the American national anthem at the presidential inaugural several years ago was in fact lip synced, proving once and for all this deceptive practice had not been merely exclusive to that not so dynamic duo of professional mimes infamously known in pop music history as Rob and Fab of Milli Vanilli.
In truth, major music industry personalities such as Britney Spears and Madonna are only singled out for committing the cardinal sin of lip syncing for purposes of damage control, and to continue to conceal the grand deception that so-called “stars” are created for dual purposes; firstly, to make a profit, and secondarily to promote the social and political agendas of the thirteen, ruling elite Jesuit families who control and own the industry. The ruling elite are well cognizant of the profound effect musical frequencies, accompanied by the creation of legendary cults of personality can have on the human nervous system, that these are vital tools when judiciously utilized to program and reprogram human perception and consciousness.
Some of the more common audio tricks utilized in the music industry have become relatively well known, however, technological advances aiding in the direct digital manipulation of sound frequencies have made it that much more difficult for the public to discern between what is real, and as the old televised ad campaign used to say – “Memorex.”
If this is so, one may enquire, then what is it the studio and television audience are truly hearing?
What they are hearing is a prerecorded vocal track, often several vocal tracks composited or “comped,” auto-tuned and perfectly balanced during the pre-production phase, giving the performance the requisite fullness and audio richness the studio and television audience will hear later during the “live” performance. During the “live” performance segment, subsequent to the performer being cued by the off-camera studio director and hitting his or her on-stage mark, American Idol fans are treated to this composite, prerecorded performance running live and “hot in the mix,” while the performer mimes the lyrics accompanying the musical arrangement displayed on their assigned teleprompter, which is often disguised as an on-stage audio monitor.
Indeed – one shall soon observe that the “American Idol” featured in this installment was not rewarded for his musical talents, but for the prominent role he played in one of the ruling elite’s psychological operations promoted to the masses via the vast organs of their colossal mainstream, corporate media complex.
Aurora Theater hoax
The mainstream media reports of the alleged Aurora, Colorado theater massacre of 2012 featured a victim by the name of Caleb Medley, who allegedly suffered a severe bullet wound to the cranial area, and before being discharged from University Hospital on September 12 (777, intelligence joker code), approximately two months subsequent to the mass casualty event, received three (33/Scottish Rite Freemasonry) brain surgeries and an additional surgery to his right eye (one eye/symbolic of Lucifer/the sun/object of worship to the Jesuit order) due to an alleged shotgun blast.
Reportedly, Medley would require a feeding tube, and was severely speech impaired.
In 2015, during the sentencing of alleged assailant James Holmes, Medley was present for the proceedings, and in the true melodramatic form demonstrated repeatedly by the mainstream media, decided to question him outside the courtroom, despite his inability to speak. One would expect, in this post-modern era dominated by political correctness, this very act would have been immediately lambasted as disrespectful, and quite frankly, embarrassing to the hapless victim. But, to the best of one’s knowledge, no such outrage was ever raised, for it had quite the opposite effect of further inducing the emotional investment of a large segment of the American public.
There’s only one problem with this account – Caleb’s tragic maladies suffered at the hands of an alleged mad gunman were all part and parcel of a scripted psychological operation, and as a result of his convincing performance subsequent to the mass casualty event at Colorado’s Aurora Theater in 2012, he was awarded with not just an appearance on American Idol, but with a victory in the championship round of the show’s thirteenth (13/summit of masonic pyramid) season in 2013 (6/12/21/mirror’s reflection/777 joker code), performing as “Caleb Johnson” (the ruling elite’s just cannot resist their crude allusions to the sexual organs of the human anatomy).
In fact, prior to 2012, per the mawkish, human interest biographical sketches aired by the producers of American Idol, Johnson had previously tried his hand at performing on You Tube as an amateur movie reviewer, and had even attempted to perform as a comedian, but alas, failed at both endeavors.
Nevertheless, with his willing participation in the Aurora event, Johnson’s wildest dreams of fame and fortune would come to miraculous fruition while performing before millions on American Idol:
https://153news.net/watch_video.php?v=SXWDKOU56XBH
If this faux, Horatio Alger story of Caleb Johnson’s is any demonstrative indication, perhaps Warhol was on to something with his quip regarding the essential nature of fame.
But, old Andy never considered, what does a man truly profit if one gains the entire world and yet sacrifices the integrity of their eternal soul?
Perhaps, even more trenchantly, folks, how does one truly sleep at night, if one is willing to fake it in order to make it?
I can imagine lots of these stars not even singing on their records. If we never hear them live, why use their voices at all?
The practice described in the article is much more prevalent than the public imagines, even within the Hip Hop genre.