Adapting Idols: Authenticity, Identity and Performance in a Global Television Format

摘要

The appendix to this book consists of a table listing all the countries in which the Idols TV programme format has been adopted and adapted. There are over 40 countries in the list, a remarkable number considering how far it outstrips the global spread of many other programme formats - and good news for FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment who designed the original UK show in 2001 and who have sold the format around the world. It is also remarkable in that the format is merely a revamp of an old-fashioned entertainment formula, the talent show, though of course it is larger in scale and with loads more hype and razzmatazz. It also builds into the show the humiliation of many young hopefuls who are told in no uncertain terms how talentless they are. All this and more deserves serious attention, and that is what this book provides, with a key point of interest being in how the format is locally tailored to fit in with the prevalent cultures of the territories where it is produced and broadcast. To borrow a phrase from Tarja Rautiainen-Keskustalo, it is a question of articulating global economy and local meanings.