‘Idol’ needs a hit and a star this year

Note: “American Idol’s” Show Tracker, Richard Rushfield, is in Park City, Utah, covering the Sundance Film Festival. He’ll return next week. In the interim, Rushfield has asked me to chronicle the second week of “Idol” Season 7. It should be noted that I am a music journalist who, prior to 2008, had refused to watch the contest. My long-held refusal to tune in to “Idol,” said Rushfield, is the precise reason why I was drafted.

Not even two weeks in, and “American Idol’s” seventh season reeks of desperation. This sense of dread was in the air before Fox showed us the “12,000 hopefuls” who poured into San Diego for Audition Episode No. 3, many of them, it turns out, having already been rejected by the music industry.

Indeed, the episode ended with one Carly Hennessy, the widely reported former major-label bust once signed to MCA Records (as of 10:44 p.m. Tuesday, that link to MCA’s long out-of-date Web page for Hennessy works, but in case it fails you, there’s also Amazon). As far as the seventh season of “Idol” is concerned, she’s Carly Smithson, back on the show after being disqualified in Season 5 due to visa issues.

Her performance of “I’m Every Woman” was met with mostly resounding approval from the judges (Simon Cowell was predictably catty), but Paula Abdul said, “That’s what we wanted to hear,” waving her hands in the air. Perhaps it is, if what impresses you is a pretty but largely forgettable singing voice and the ability to stretch the word “me” to four seconds.

Hennessy’s record biz journeys have inspired plenty of online debating as to whether “Idol” should welcome those with experience. I say sure, why discriminate against talent?

But who can blame the producers for wanting to secure some kids with the proven ability to carry a note? So bring on the innocently bland teenager David Archuleta, who I’m told was a former “Star Search” winner and who probably does a fine take on the National Anthem at minor league baseball games.

For now, with a writers strike wreaking havoc on TV schedules and the music industry struggling to sell CDs, “American Idol” needs something proved. And lest we forget, Taylor Hicks has already been dropped from his record label, gone the way of Ruben Studdard. And oh, Jordin Sparks recently debuted at No. 10 in the pop charts with what was the lowest first-week sales total by an “Idol” winner ever, according to Billboard.

So perhaps this isn’t the best time to mention that “Idol’s” ratings last week were its lowest premiere figures since 2004? Yes, there was a sense of desperation in the air Tuesday night, and not because we got to see Blake Boshnack audition -- and fail -- for the 11th time. I wonder, is it perhaps better to spend your entire life chasing a dream that’s unreachable, or is it best to move on at some point?

We can ponder while we await Boshnack’s appearance next year. So yes, “American Idol” needs a hit, and a hit in “Idol’s” world doesn’t mean selling 700,000 CDs, as Hicks did, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That kind of number would be considered an unqualified success for many of today’s artists, but “Idol” isn’t in the business of selling art -- it’s about creating the kind of CD cover that looks good on the shelves at electronics stores.

It might also be nice if this “hit” comes from someone who actually wins. The biggest star “Idol” has produced in the last few years is Chris Daughtry, a top-five finisher in Season 5. As the season progresses, the tension will decrease, and, in turn, “Idol’s” pop-culture mystique, if the market continues to get flooded with near winners.

Really, there’s nothing unexpected in “Idol” presenting us with artists who have already had some forays into the music business. It’s wrong to single out Hennessy, or Michael Lee, who was in a heretofore unknown band called the Rising that recorded for Maverick Records.

It probably doesn’t bode well that the best singing came courtesy of the Ramones’ take on “California Sun,” which played in the opening scenes. Ah, what clever sort of metaphor could Simon have used to shoot down Joey Ramone?

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Show Tracker follows TV series through highs and lows.