Fame. I'm gonna live. Forever. (UPDATED NOV 18)

This week, a woman named Paula Goodspeed died in Los Angeles, outside the house of Paula Abdul. It appears that she committed suicide.

Why do I know about this? Why do I care? I know about this because Paula Goodspeed appeared to have a bit of an obsession with Paula Abdul. And because she auditioned for American Idol. So Paula Goodspeed has become part of the pop culture. This week, at least. Next week nobody will remember her.



I'm going to try to not be judgemental here, but shows like the Idols or their sisters like "Making the Band", Popstars, etc. tell us something. They're designed to tell us that there's really no difference between us and the people we idolize. That the singing we do into a hairbrush or into the water cascading down from the shower head is equivalent to the singing they hear -- or used to hear -- on music videos or in concerts.

And what's more, you don't have to train, or work, or take classes, or get experience. Just show up, sing, and between the judges and the celebrity mentors, you'll be FAMOUS! Forget about the record of previous winners (AI: Ruben Studdard, currently dropped from his record label; Fantasia Barrino, focused on Broadway and movies; Taylor Hicks, currently in a supporting role in Grease! on Broadway; Jordin Sparks's album tanked; Canadian Idol: Ryan Malcolm, currently in a band called Low Level Flight; Kalan Porter, apparently recording; Melissa O'Neil, apparently recording, and starred in Dirty Dancing in Toronto; Eva Avila, disappointing record sales, but a contract with Maybellene; Brian Melo, disappointing first album sales and one single on a chart).

And the prefabricated stars that get radio airplay play into this. Technological wonders like ProTools give the producer the option of adding in plugins like AutoTune or PitchDoctor. Those make EVERYONE sing on-key, all the time, on record or in concert. This has gotten to the point where some singers put disclaimers on their albums telling the listener they DIDN'T use pitch correction technology. And to an extent I understand why you'd want this live. When you're dancing around like a stripper on bennies with 20 other people, it might be hard to stay on key.

And the system makes singers into commodities. I've never seen branding extended in music the way it is now. Britney Spears has six fragrances, four books to her name, seven DVDs, a doll, a video game, a cell-phone game. Christina Aguilera, according to Wikipedia, has done the following:

In 2000, Aguilera was the face for make-up line Fetish where she worked in choosing colors and packaging for the line. She ended her contract the following year.^[104] Throughout her career Aguilera has endorsed several brands, including Sketchers, Mercedes-Benz, Verizon Wireless, and soft drink giants Coca-Cola in 2001, and Pepsi in 2006.^[105] She became the muse and model for fashion house Versace appearing in a campaign for the 2003 fall line.^[106] In 2004 Aguilera earned £200,000GBP (about $500,000USD)^[107] for opening the summer sale at London's Harrods store which took in record breaking profits during the four week period.^[108] Aguilera signed a contract with European cell phone operator Orange to promote the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone during the 2006 World Cup.

In 2008 jewelry designer Stephen Webster and close friend of Aguilera released "Shattered," a collection of sterling silver pieces, through Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Aguilera, who inspired the collection, was featured as a Hitchcock heroine saying, "Working together on this campaign and collection has been an incredible experience. I am honored to be a part of it all."^[109][110]

Aguilera released two fragrances throughout Europe, the first one Xpose, was released in late 2004 and sold relatively well.^[111][112] Through Procter and Gamble Aguilera released her signature fragrance, Simply Christina in 2007.^[113] In Christmas 2007, the fragrance became the number one perfume in the UK,^[114] and Germany where it topped sales for the year.^[115] The perfume won as the people’s choice for favorite celebrity fragrance at the annual UK Fifi Awards 2008.^[116]

She released her third fragrance, Inspire, accompanied with a body care collection, on September 1, 2008.^[117][118] The perfume hit shelves in the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Northern and Eastern Europe. It is Aguilera's first fragrance released outside of Europe.^[119] Her worldwide ad campaign included a television ad shot by David LaChapelle and was released in the US through Macy's department stores. The release coincided with Macy's 150th anniversary which featured Aguilera in commemorative photos.^[120][121]

I can remember teen fads when I was a kid. The Bay City Rollers, for example, had a moment of fame that led to lunch boxes, scarves, and the like. The Beatles were pioneers in licencing their image to products. But now it's as if the music is just a vehicle to spark the brand. Then you have to do EVERYthing.

Since Cathy and I started presenting house concerts last winter, we've spent a lot of time hanging out with musicians. The musicians who we've hosted are not the type who will ever end up on American Idol or its Canadian equivalent. They write their own songs. They accompany themselves on guitar, mandolin, piano, or sing a cappella. They don't tend to go for vocal hyperdramatics like Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera. They sing in genres that don't get mainstream radio airplay outside of CBC, and often produce their own CDs on their own labels. Without a PA system, or with minor sound reinforcement, they can leave an audience of serious music lovers spellbound in our sunroom. (PS: earlier this year I got offered a concert with one of the former members of Sugar Jones, the all-girl band put together by Global Television's Popstars show. Don't think it'll happen.)

But they'll never, it's probable, be rich. They'll never brand themselves, have a number one single, end up a regular feature on ET, or even ET Canada. And that's OK by most of them, if they could make just a bit more money and keep making beautiful songs.

One of the standard parts of our house concerts is an unpaid opener. Often it's me. I play guitar a little, and sing a little. So I'll work on two or three tunes and open. One is always a Danny Michel tune, because I love the guy's work and dream of a day when he does a show for us.

Other times, friends have opened. When my friend Rob suggested I try Lynn Miles and she agreed, he opened. When regular concertgoer Paul suggested Gregory Hoskins, he opened for him. Gerry Bedard, who I traded songs with in a hospice as our mutual friend Kim spent her last days on earth, opened for Tony D and Andy J. Forest.

And as we've done these shows and talked with musicians, and I've seen friends open for professionals, and I've opened for a few myself (getting to sing one of my favorite Danny Michel songs with Meredith Luce -- priceless), I've developed a theory. I think that when mass media began to be the way to deliver entertainment into people's homes, that people forgot that they were talented. A wall went up between the "audience" and the "performer", and instead of us all sharing what talent we had, it became an all-or-nothing proposition. Are you a "pro?" Then entertain us. But I'm not a pro, so I will never sing for you. And I think that's sad.

So what's the connection between them and Paula Goodspeed, and Paula Abdul? Poor Paula Goodspeed might have had a little talent. She didn't show a lot in her audition video. She squawked her way through Proud Mary, and two of the judges laughed at her. Frankly, I suspect the producers put her in front of the judges because she was already a bit obsessed with Paula Abdul (she brought along a portfolio of drawings of Abdul), because she thought she had a lot of talent, and because she wasn't a good singer at all. Of course, one of the ironies of this woman being obsessed with Paula Abdul is that Abdul herself has been accused of liberal use of pitch-correction technology. A Boston Herald writer says that "Paula Abdul would never survive as an “American Idol” contestant."

So you have a TV program that tells people that tells people talent doesn't matter; a mainstream music industry that values fame FAR more than musical ability; and a culture where people don't perform unless they're "performers", and then someone like Paula Goodspeed comes along.

I don't doubt that there were lots of snickers at her painful audition tape, at the cracks that Simon Cowell made about her braces, about her really bad singing.

But Paula Goodspeed is a symptom of an emptiness at the heart of our society, and it's an emptiness that's created and encouraged to a significant extent by marketing and PR.

So I'm sad for Paula Goodspeed. I'm sad for whatever led her to die in her car outside the house of a celebrity with whom she shared a first name. And I wish people would listen to music that touched them in their hearts, rather than their gonads or their wallets.

UPDATE, November 17: Globe and Mail columnist Lynn Crosbie provides her take on this story today, including a confirmation of the fact that Paula Goodspeed was originally named Susan. This, apparently, is Goodspeed's Myspace blog. Sadder and sadder.

UPDATE 2, November 18: Guardian music columnist Steven Wells takes a rather different view from mine, and (IMO) kinda misrepresents my greater point.

Ciao,
Bob.