Idolatry.(American Idol)

At a time when radio has lost relevance, and many fans have settled on niches that are reinforced on the Web every twenty minutes with updates and free music, "American Idol" offers a recurring event that almost everybody talks about at almost the same time. Every Tuesday and Wednesday, the show attracts some twenty-five million people, and invites them to then argue about what they have watched. (Seventy-four million votes were cast in the finale of the 2007 season.) For some of the younger viewers and contestants, the songs being performed are outside their niche. The two weeks this spring that focussed on the Beatles catalogue were a revelation for anyone smug enough to think that fab is forever. (Pop is too old to have a single, collective memory anymore.) Whatever objections you may have to "Idol" 's mechanics or style, it asks singers to learn material they may not know, and sometimes even to listen to the people who wrote the songs explain them. This is something that no other content-delivery platform does right now. (A song placed in, say, "Gossip Girl" or "Iron Man" could eventually reach as many people as a song on "Idol," but with less context.) Any enterprise that lets Dolly Parton expand on her work for an hour is adding to the common good.

"Idol" was created by Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls svengali, and first aired in England in 2001, as "Pop Idol." It came to America the following year, with a new name but with the same purpose: to find market-friendly talent among an enormous pool of amateurs and wannabes. Fuller's genius turned out to be manifold. He didn't just create a staggeringly popular show that inspired many other reality series involving judges and eliminations. (The chief of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker, said last year that "Idol" may be the "most impactful show in the history of television.") Fuller turned the job of discovering new talent--traditionally the role of A. & R. men--from an expense into an income stream. "Idol," which is jointly owned by Fuller's 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia, makes money for Fuller while it is finding him pop stars who then go out and make him more money when they work as pop stars. The "Idol" contract establishes 19 Entertainment as the manager of any winner. Fuller calls this form of vertical integration "one-stop shopping."

Fuller's company currently manages David and Victoria Beckham, among others, and commercial licensing for the England football team. Fuller and Simon Cowell, the record executive who serves as one of the show's judges, are both comfortable talking about brands and assets and content, and have become extremely rich by acting on the principle that music is best when created by professionals and served by amateurs. Cowell, who was also a judge on "Pop Idol," launched a successful British knockoff of Fuller's idea in 2004, called "The X Factor," which is responsible for promoting Leona Lewis, who has the No. 1 single in America right now. (Cowell and Fuller engaged in some friendly litigation over "The X Factor"; they seem to understand each other.) But, ultimately, what is great about "American Idol" is that it could not matter less what its creators intended or want.

The judges on the show--Cowell, the singer and choreographer Paula Abdul, and the musician Randy Jackson--critique contestants on their vocal ability, song choice, presentation, and other aspects of pop craftsmanship. The American public, though, decides who remains in the running, by phoning and texting in votes after Tuesday night's broadcast. On Wednesday night, a singer is eliminated, at the end of the episode. Except for the early stages of the competition, when the judges winnow a group of about two hundred down to twenty-four, they can only file amicus briefs. They can say, "It was just O.K. for me, dog," banish singers to cruise ships, and make everyone cry, but the people have the power.

What the judges say about ...