2007 Pop Conference Bios/Abstracts

Katherine Meizel

Katherine Meizel is a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and though she doesn't want to count her chickens, by the time of this conference she may have filed her dissertation entitled "America Singing: The Mediation of Identity Politics in American Idol."Panel(s):
Iconography
Friday, April 20, 2007, 2:15 - 4:00Abstract:

"Making the Song Your Own: Nostalgia, Authenticity, and the Cover in American Idol"
The televised singing competition American Idol emerged in 2002, at an historical moment when the reinforcement and reconfiguration of American cultural identity specially occupied national attention. For five seasons the show has both reflected and factored in these processes, offering its viewers an anthologized, nostalgic song catalog from the past several decades, a canonized understanding of musical Americanness. Industry icons have also frequently appeared as coaches or guest judges, symbolically passing on their dynastic legacies to the aspiring Idols. The performance of the musical past in the deciding of the musical future—the national election of a new star— means that as they sing, contestants are obliged to negotiate a precarious balance between imaginings of historical and more immediate, personalized artistic authenticities. Performers must demonstrate the ability to choose "the right song," one that is recognizable and associated with a respected artist, yet also a good fit for the individual Idol singer. They must simultaneously fulfill the expectations implied in the invocation of a well-known work and celebrated name, and rise above mere mimesis to "make the song their own." This paper examines the ways in which 's contestants are located and legitimated in a history of the show's own construction, and how they make a place for themselves in time.