Global Television Formats

10

IDOL WORSHIP

Ethnicity and Difference in GlobalTelevision

Biswarup Sen

The worldwide success of the Idol format¹ may not require any explanation. We live under the ubiquitous sign of globalization; and hence it should come as no surprise that mass media—which together constitute an ecumenical vehicle of culture with an insatiable appetite for profit—would generate forms (or formats) of art that travel with ease and are translatable into every context. The reception of these formats is, at one level, as unproblematic as its dissemination. To be global (and who isn't?) is to be eagerly accepting of certain languages, technologies, discourses and styles.² The craze surrounding competitive singing can then be explained as one more instance of ...