Verne Gay: What 'Idol' owes to Dick Clark
Your top 7, America. And so it remains for another week: L-R: Holly Cavanaugh, Joshua Ledet, Colton Dixon, Jessica Sanchez (saved), Elise Testone, Phillip Phillips and Skylar Laine. Credit: Fox
What would "American Idol" be without "American Bandstand?" Take away the "American" and the "Idol" and you pretty much have your answer: Nothing. Nada. Or a repeat of "Glee" (which, come to think of it, owes a debt of gratitude as well.)
Last night's tribute may have just been a series of clips -- a reality show's version of render-unto-Caesar-what-is-Caesar's -- but it was a genuine tribute, which is praise not casually bestowed on this occasionally soul-crushing machine.
Fox, Ryan Seacrest and the rest of the "Idol" apparatchik were completely right for a change: All hail Dick Clark. He made them who they are, and to a considerable extent, us as well.
How is this so? Because Dick Clark, bright of smile and optimistic of outlook, was that uniquely American figure who believed that the future was always brighter than the past, and the next day was always better than the last.
He loved his "New Year's Rockin' Eve" spectacular because New Year's Eve really was all about New Year's Day, and a brighter tomorrow. The ball came down and Dick Clark smiled, and that smile was always genuine, or seemed as genuine as "genuine" could be on a cold winter's night. The new year suddenly, fleetingly, did seem better.
Likewise, "Idol" is aspiration, hope and the American dream all cellophane-wrapped in a package that was essentially wrapped by Dick Clark 55 years ago. "American Bandstand," and Dick Clark, fused these elements into a daily habit that ran for decades and changed America for the better. This show was especially about music, and how music is the stuff of our dreams.
Clark in fact once produced a series called "American Dreams" -- about '60s-era Philadelphia where some kids met on "American Bandstand." The show ended, but not before one of the characters became an astronaut who flew to the moon. Clark probably wrote that ending himself.
Meanwhile, Colton Dixon's dream came to an end Thursday night. He sang Lifehouse's "Everything," ending with, "Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?"
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