Were the Chosen Songwriters Really Undiscovered?
May 23, 2007 by Jeanne
Ugh, this just gets worse by the second. I cannot even keep up with it all. American Idol did something new this year by asking America to vote for the best “finale song” which was to be written by “undiscovered songwriters.” Well, my friends, the song that seemed written for Jordin does not seem to be the work of amateurs. Here’s what Reality TV magazine uncovered:
“‘This Is My Now’ was written by Seattle songwriters Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody. In a press release about the single, Jeff Peabody is described as an advertising consultant, graphic designer and full time pastor, so he could probably lay claim to the amateur songwriter category… However, a quick Google search reveals Scott Krippayne’s official web site, where his bio describes him as “a respected, accomplished singer/songwriter. Another online bio at Kensei News says that Scott Krippayne’s CDs have spawned nine number one songs and over 150 of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including some fairly well known names like Point of Grace & John Tesh. We guess it all depends on where you draw the line in describing someone as undiscovered, and American Idol appears to have a pretty lenient definition of undiscovered.”
Kinda a coincidence that Jordin Sparks has worked in the Christian music industry and the American Idol Finale Song was written by Christian music writers. Even the huge Christian music artist, Michael W. Smith, with whom she has performed, endorsed her on his website: http://www.michaelwsmith.com/
It could be a coincidence but I am pretty disappointed by the process this season. What would people say if the winning song had been written by Sir-Mix-A-Lot?
Good post! I’m a Jordan fan, but I do see how Blake fans would be upset by these “coincidences.” It would be a more fair competition if these two finalists were a “nobody” prior to American Idol.
Agreed. Tall Freak. And these “coincidences” are yucky for two reasons: they seem unfair to Blake and take away from Jordin’s victory (for some).
OMG. I cannot even believe what I just read. That song was completely made for Jordin!!! Ugh, this disgusts me. Why on earth would they make those two sing the same song anyway??????? They are completely different! Especially since that song was geared to Jordin’s singing style! That song was a syrupy type song and a Chritian one at that! How is that fair to Blake??? Of all times, that was the most biased time to screw Blake over! This show is ridiculous and I don’t know why I bother with it! They want Jordin to win and that’s why they sabbotaged Blake by pulling this ridiculous crap! People would go buck-wild if Jordin EVER was forced to sing a Jamiroquai song!!! Especially since it was the last song they had to sing(probably most important song of the season).
OMG!! WHAT THE HELL!? You have problem. That is your opinion. If people liked Jordin or Blake better they voted for them. Just because you like her doesn’t mean everyone else has to think what you think. You are just a self centered freak.
Excuse me, can we please not resort to name calling? My god! I don’t exactly understand what you mean by saying this “Just because you like her doesn’t mean everyone else has to think what you think.” I DON’T like Jordin. Did you even read what I wrote(I’m hoping that you just made a typo:)???
The show was biased. They gave them both a song that was geared more towards what Jordin’s style is. How would it go over with people if they both had to do some wicked beatboxing?! It would be unfair because Jordin is not used to that. That’s all I’m saying!
No need to pop a nerve, Megan.
You may think I “have a problem” and that “I am a self centered freak”but I stick by what I said: the last song was unfair! It accomodated more to Jordin. It made me mad because that was one of the most important performances of the season. Remember last year when they made both made Taylor and Katharine sing different songs? Why couldn’t they do the same with Joridn and Blake?
Please, don’t be afraid to reply. I won’t call you a freak or anything:)
Many of us, who paid to enter the contest, feel completely taken by the misleading promotion, proclamations and guidelines which AI provided. AI quickly collected well over $250K from gullible amateur “songwriters” on a contest which leveraged the show’s grass roots premise but was “staged” to generate additional promo and a wider audience for seasoned professionals already entrenched in or on the up-and-up in the music industry.
Even worse, at least half of the 20 songs selected in the contest were written by people who have previously worked directly with AI personnel, and some very extensively, or who have had other highly visible connections to the show’s cast, producers or network distributors and none of these finalists were thrown out. Among other things, Scott Krippayne had already written the title track of the CD (Wonderful Crazy) for Katelyn Tarver who was a finalist on the hit FOX TV series American Idol Juniors. That CD was released in 2005.
IGotScammed – would you be willing to talk to me about this? I would like to cover this story because I am thoroughly disgusted. If you really did pay to enter, that would be incredible because, so far, no one has been interviewed from that group.
Jeanne,
We’ve already beat this to death over on SPINME.com but there are quite a few people who feel like the whole contest was a charade and not representative of the grass roots theme of the show. Not to take away anything away from the songs which made the top 20 it would have been very easy for AI to have used a selcetion process that would guarantee a broader representation from people outside the music centers, LA, Nashville & New York, and more consistent with the theme of the show.
I’m happy to talk to you about it.
For all who care:
Jordin toured with Michael W. Smith during his 2005-2006 Christmastime tour. Here is the link to his site:
http://www.michaelwsmith.com/news-detail.php?pageid=2685&newsid=806
Some people took this discussion personally or saw the comments of others as threatening or derogatory towards Christian music. This is not my opinion and I find it unfortunate. Due to the large postings and inflammatory commentary I have been forced, for the first time, to disable comments in a discussion. I have chosen to leave the comments of those who wished to share their opinions on here. Those that focused mainly on the Christian aspect of this conversation were deleted. The title and the intent of this discussion were not to wage war on certain musical styles. I would have thought this was self-explanatory but it apparently was not. I did not cite anything other than facts and I asked some questions that I felt and continue to feel are justifiable.
Please note: had this been any other writer who is “accomplished” or if the chosen song had been in a beatboxing style (with Blake winning as a beatboxer), the discussion would have been the same. It has nothing to do with Christianity or Christian music.
Thank you.
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