Although I loathe AI I cannot argue with a good business decision. It hurt me when Stevie did it earlier in the season and Prince's appearance has numbed me. But the game has changed so I have to adapt as well.

American Idol? Is this not the man that is against record companies and how they handle artists??? The man who wrote "slave" on his face when he was the highest paid artist in history? the man who changed his name to a symbol so the record companies could not exploit his new works????

and he turns around and goes on the 1# show that makes kids sign up in these types contracts, contracts he's been fighting and warning people for over 15 years?

am I lost here? or did I miss something?????

...And I also feel like he's completely separated himself from the anally principled artist who challenged everyone from the industry to his own fans about how they thought about life, politics, fame, the music biz, God, and all the other subjects he's touched upon.

The Prince who spat out that beautiful rant in the middle of "Sexuality" and the spitfire who gave us "The Rainbow Children" and the One Nite Alone tour is all Howard Hughes pre-OCD breakdown with his parties and his entourage of nubile women dancers and his facade of a lifestyle.

... "It wasn't easy though," said one source, "because Prince apparently hates the show and has never even watched it." A rep for Prince didn't return calls.

Well seeing that he's been so overwhelmingly successful on his own terms ( sarcasm alert), sooner or later he's going to tire of seeing his album sales go south of NPS, The Org/Quake/online fan community and the car trunk, he has to do something to justify painting his rental in those garish colors. It was not the greatest thing in the world but it was quick and painless, amounting to about 10,000 more CDs sold. I doubt it will affect the bottom line, thats what tours are for.

nah, he just keeps using the industry like they used to use him
i think it's kinda funny actually

... Seems like he really is less concerned about his reputation has a serious musician than his fans are...

I'm going to try not to go on a full on rant here, because I've been a pretty devoted fan for a long time, and because I have more fun enjoying Prince than I do when I'm criticizing him, and most importantly - it's late and I have to work early in the morning, and I shouldn't even be awake right now.

BUT.

I'm scratching my head over the whole AI thing right now. I didn't see it tonight, because I was out with some dear friends, and if I were home, I wouldn't have seen it anyway because I don't watch AI and I didn't hear the rumors about Prince's appearance.

Let me say that regardless of how I feel about his decision to be on AI, I am FIENDING to see a clip! I'm not gonna fake otherwise, because you all know me better than that.

I can't help but feel like David Byrne in that old Talking Heads song: This is not my beautiful Prince! This is not my beautiful badass!

Of course, another lyric to that song is "same as it ever was, same as it ever was..."

But I digress.

Las Vegas? American Idol? Big splashy celebrity parties?

Well, okay. Good for him, I guess. But I feel like Prince has decided to take on the role of schmaltzy megacelebrity while at the same time wanting the rebellious cred of a righteous artist fighting for what is due him.

And I also feel like he's completely separated himself from the anally principled artist who challenged everyone from the industry to his own fans about how they thought about life, politics, fame, the music biz, God, and all the other subjects he's touched upon.

The Prince who spat out that beautiful rant in the middle of "Sexuality" and the spitfire who gave us "The Rainbow Children" and the One Nite Alone tour is all Howard Hughes pre-OCD breakdown with his parties and his entourage of nubile women dancers and his facade of a lifestyle.

It's like 1992 all over again, only not as cool.

Prince is always going to be a bad MF when you put a guitar in his hands. I can never refute that. But I miss the man who could both kick my ass with his musicianship and leave me walking away trying to process what the hell he was talking about, whether I agreed with it or not.

Of course, in his own famously roundabout way, this could be exactly what he's doing right now.

"...same as it ever was...same as it ever was..."

Anyway. Bedtime. I'll read the slings and arrows in the morning.

Some of you just take this much too seriously. He has always done what he wanted and will always do what he wants. Seems like he really is less concerned about his reputation has a serious musician than his fans are. I really wasn't surprised by his appearance at all.

American Idol? Is this not the man that is against record companies and how they handle artists??? The man who wrote "slave" on his face when he was the highest paid artist in history? the man who changed his name to a symbol so the record companies could not exploit his new works????

Well, okay. Good for him, I guess. But I feel like Prince has decided to take on the role of schmaltzy megacelebrity while at the same time wanting the rebellious cred of a righteous artist fighting for what is due him.

The Beatles and the Stones were on the Ed Sullivan Show...which, including having some stellar rock performers, had some of the cheesiest vaudville-type acts on the face of the planet..lol ...American Idol is, in it's own way, becoming a modern-day version of the Ed Sullivan Show.

That's just it. It's a game and if you don't play the game, you're going to get played. I'm glad Prince played the game and as far as I'm concerned, he won. Simple as that.

This was my lowest point as a Prince fan. I'm incredibly disappointed.

Two years ago, he was all about "real music by real musicians" and seemed to be promoting himself primarily as a serious and skilled musician, in particular contrasting himself to the "manufactured" stars dominating the charts. "Music before business" and all that.

This is a shark jumper, kids. Walking contradiction or not, Prince lost a lot of “coolness points” with me over this.

Here, here.



No shit. I suffered through assless pants, the Lovesexy cover, the name change, Jehova, Graffitti Bridge and this thing makes me cringe more than any of it.



Bingo. It’s a question of credibiility in my eyes. I loathe this show and everything it stands for and somehow feel like Prince is (or should be) above it. Can you picture Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen or Bono schmaltzing up their reps with a cheesy circus like this? MJ, yeah, but his rep is shot anyhow. To know that Prince was willingly breathing the same air as that prick Simon or a washed up hag like Paula Abdul makes my skin crawl.


This is a shark jumper, kids. Walking contradiction or not, Prince lost a lot of “coolness points” with me over this. American Idol is a sad fucking joke that niether speaks to nor rembodies ANY of the things that Prince has contributed to music over the last 30 odd years

It’s embarassing.

American Idol? Is this not the man that is against record companies and how they handle artists??? The man who wrote "slave" on his face when he was the highest paid artist in history? the man who changed his name to a symbol so the record companies could not exploit his new works????

and he turns around and goes on the 1# show that makes kids sign up in these types contracts, contracts he's been fighting and warning people for over 15 years?

am I lost here? or did I miss something?????

I thought it was a great move on Prince's part; he should have appeared weeks ago. It gave him exposure to millions of viewers-- especially younger viewers-- who's not familiar with him and be blown away!!!!!

I don't hate the show, it's entertaining and it gets kids into old songs and older artists but....

Compare this Prince AI prime time performance with these:

1. Purple Rain at American Music Awards in 1985
2. Prince at the Grammys doing "Baby I'm a Star" in 1984
3. Prince on SNL doing "Electric Chair"

I could go on and on.. I know he's older and only had 5 minutes, but I always expect Prince to dazzle and surprise, and he just doesn't do that as much anymore.