My pot of coffee and I are fighting writer’s block. We are losing. Pretty badly, in fact. Writer’s block is more of a foe than it used to be. But before, I had the luxury of writing only when I felt like I had a great one in me, one of those where I’d sit down and almost black out to write. Sometimes, you get on rolls with this where you can close your eyes and 1,200 good words will come out.
This ain’t one of those days.
Anyway, I took a break to check out an old TV One re-run of “It’s Showtime at the Apollo.” I ran down there to see a supremely wack dance routine. Them cats weren’t bad dancers necessarily, but they sure didn’t need to be on television. Shit, they surely didn’t need to be in a theater where they boo famous people passionately. Random folks from the block? Ohhh, they get it.
But riddle me this–why go on Apollo now? Is any talent scout really watching Amateur Night? When’s the last time a star said, “well, who knew where Amateur Night would take me?” I know Lauryn Hill lost on there. A few other people, too.
So if you’re not gonna be famous, is a potential run with the Sandman–and the embarrassment that comes with it–worth all that practicing and rehearsing?
Lemme know…
4 thoughts on “Why Go on the Apollo?”
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Can’t be as bad as the Gong Show. Cpl. Klinger telling me I suck?
Yeah, but that damn siren…
I think a program like “Showtime At The Apollo” has become less about being “discovered” and more about being seen/famous, purely for its own sake. Fame has become a means of justifying our existence on the planet: a way to feel like one’s life is something much bigger than what it is. It seems you can never underestimate the shame and humiliation that people will subject themselves to for that moment in the sun. It doesn’t matter whether it’s “Apollo”, “The Gong Show”, or any number of other venues. Andy Warhol’s “15 minutes of fame” has been taken to it’s most perverse conclusion: it’s better to be famously pathetic then not famous at all. These kinds of shows expose the voyeur in us all: let’s all slow down so we can take a good look at the car wreck.
What was the guys name who choked out that terrible version of “She Bangs” on American Idol a couple years ago? William Hung? Man, he has a fan base now! Wonders never cease….
folk go on the apollo so they can tell their folk they were on it. i think the tradition is probably its strongest selling point right now. to be on the same stage that r&b and hip-hop legends did their thing on. for alot of folk, just that tenuous connection is enough motivation to do it.
tim’s statements are true, too. folk are forever stretching their fifteen minutes to an hour, to the dismay of everyone else.
i will be doing the apollo in sept 2007 i am a stand-up comic