Global entertainment and local celebration

Abstract

The entertainment show Idols has been without doubt one of the most popular TV programmes internationally in recent years. In the wake of this talent quest, local 'Idols parties' were organized throughout the Netherlands in 2003 and 2004. At schools, cafes, camping sites and clubrooms, parties were staged with names such as 'Idols Night' or 'Gay Idols'. This article examines the meaning of these shows and what the phenomenon ultimately tells us about the relationship between television culture and popular culture. To this end, we attended eight Idols parties, conducting ethnographic fieldwork. We can conclude that the Idols parties are inspired to a great extent by the popular TV format, but at the same time the ritual character of the TV model is diluted to make room for a process of appropriation. The objective of each Idols party is to celebrate the group identity of their association, school or club.

Spaces of Celebrity

“…Acknowledging the limitations of textual analysis, Biltereyst (2004, 21) calls for an exploration of the ways in which the themes of reality TV “are related to different national and cultural contexts and how audiences and public discourses react.” In a similar vein and with specific reference to talent shows, Holmes (2004, 169) also advocates a return to “the real, or empirical audience,— a return to more traditional theoretical and methodological approaches that separate audience and text, rejecting the convergence that the program’s insist on so emphatically.” While a substantial body of work has emerged on reality TV audiences in recent years (e.g., Biltereyst 2004; Carpentier 2006; Götz 2004; Hill 2005; Hobson 2004; Mikos, 2004; Quinn 2004), those for talent shows have received less attention (but see Coutas 2006; Michelle 2009; Reijnders et al 2008). Less visible still is the role of social class in influencing audience engagement with these shows.…”