American media Sunday
I just came back from an event at the American cultural center, @atamerica. If it seems like I've been going there a lot lately, it's really true. I'm not even going to lie about it but I enjoy their lectures/seminars/discussions because they're highly relevant to my interests these days. They really have good programs even if their concept, as a cultural center, is different and a little unusual than the norm here in Jakarta.
The one I went to today had a theme of "media convergence"; it was about how TV, music and the internet are bringing together a brand new kind of experience in enjoying entertainment. I was interested in it because one of the speakers is a programming executive at NBC and for me NBC is one of the more interesting American channels because they're the ones that broadcast Grimm and The Sing-Off. Even though I had no idea what the speaker's background is initially, I had a feeling I could at least express my disappointment about the cancellation of The Sing-Off, which was announced last May and really broke my heart.
As it turned out, it was the right event to go to because the programming exec, Shelby Radloff, did have a connection to the show. She works for The Voice and in fact has been working on the show since its conception on NBC. (FYI, I don't watch The Voice but I find their format a lot more interesting and their coaches/judges a lot more useful and constructive than American Idol and The X-Factor, so I have certain degree of affinity for the show.) During the Q&A session, I immediately put my hand up for the question and asked about TSO's cancellation, which apparently surprised Ms. Radloff because TSO wasn't shown here and yet I know about it anyway.
Anyway, the explanation she gave us about TSO was that changing the show from a Christmas special to a fall season show with more episodes really "tired the show out and hurt the ratings". They couldn't ignore that and since it became economically impossible for them to continue TSO, they had to cancel. So, basically, a cappella is not a big enough money generator so it was bye bye for the show.
I understand this and I was grateful for the explanation... but as a fan I'm still really disappointed. *sigh*
Although, Ms. Radloff did throw me a bone and said, "I could see a world where the show would be making a comeback." Of course I imagine it would go back to the same format as the first season, being a Christmas special, and obviously this is not going to happen anytime soon... but that does give me a little hope.
On the meantime, if anyone feels as strongly as I do for the show (which I doubt, but I'm going to do my part to save the show, no matter how futile the efforts may be), sign the petition here.
Wanting to know what's going on with TSO was pretty much the only reason I wanted to attend the event but I got many other things out of it. Besides Ms. Radloff, her partner Ethan Shaftle, also made a presentation on his work, which was about using multimedia in concerts and putting up low-budget videos on the Internet as a way to promote music. This part sounded more to the creative side and there was no way in this lifetime I would be able to get creative and work in that industry, but it was interesting how he gave us an illustration of what it was like to work back stage in showbiz. Somehow, all of this would be useful for my own job (writing about showbiz for a magazine) later on.
Funnily enough, both of these speakers are actually on holiday here in Jakarta. Then they somehow got roped into doing a presentation for the @atamerica audience because Ms. Radloff's brother, Neil (if I am not mistaken), who works at the Embassy, asked them to do it.
Imagine that - you go on a holiday with your girlfriend/boyfriend (Radloff and Shaftle are a couple) and you suddenly have to speak in front of a public in a hi-tech cultural center. Definitely not my idea of a holiday (or even of a Sunday afternoon!) but wow, it was a really great idea to do it. Kudos!
Now I'm going to go back to being a walrus and laze around my TV room to watch something British. Just because.
The one I went to today had a theme of "media convergence"; it was about how TV, music and the internet are bringing together a brand new kind of experience in enjoying entertainment. I was interested in it because one of the speakers is a programming executive at NBC and for me NBC is one of the more interesting American channels because they're the ones that broadcast Grimm and The Sing-Off. Even though I had no idea what the speaker's background is initially, I had a feeling I could at least express my disappointment about the cancellation of The Sing-Off, which was announced last May and really broke my heart.
As it turned out, it was the right event to go to because the programming exec, Shelby Radloff, did have a connection to the show. She works for The Voice and in fact has been working on the show since its conception on NBC. (FYI, I don't watch The Voice but I find their format a lot more interesting and their coaches/judges a lot more useful and constructive than American Idol and The X-Factor, so I have certain degree of affinity for the show.) During the Q&A session, I immediately put my hand up for the question and asked about TSO's cancellation, which apparently surprised Ms. Radloff because TSO wasn't shown here and yet I know about it anyway.
Anyway, the explanation she gave us about TSO was that changing the show from a Christmas special to a fall season show with more episodes really "tired the show out and hurt the ratings". They couldn't ignore that and since it became economically impossible for them to continue TSO, they had to cancel. So, basically, a cappella is not a big enough money generator so it was bye bye for the show.
I understand this and I was grateful for the explanation... but as a fan I'm still really disappointed. *sigh*
Although, Ms. Radloff did throw me a bone and said, "I could see a world where the show would be making a comeback." Of course I imagine it would go back to the same format as the first season, being a Christmas special, and obviously this is not going to happen anytime soon... but that does give me a little hope.
On the meantime, if anyone feels as strongly as I do for the show (which I doubt, but I'm going to do my part to save the show, no matter how futile the efforts may be), sign the petition here.
Wanting to know what's going on with TSO was pretty much the only reason I wanted to attend the event but I got many other things out of it. Besides Ms. Radloff, her partner Ethan Shaftle, also made a presentation on his work, which was about using multimedia in concerts and putting up low-budget videos on the Internet as a way to promote music. This part sounded more to the creative side and there was no way in this lifetime I would be able to get creative and work in that industry, but it was interesting how he gave us an illustration of what it was like to work back stage in showbiz. Somehow, all of this would be useful for my own job (writing about showbiz for a magazine) later on.
Funnily enough, both of these speakers are actually on holiday here in Jakarta. Then they somehow got roped into doing a presentation for the @atamerica audience because Ms. Radloff's brother, Neil (if I am not mistaken), who works at the Embassy, asked them to do it.
Imagine that - you go on a holiday with your girlfriend/boyfriend (Radloff and Shaftle are a couple) and you suddenly have to speak in front of a public in a hi-tech cultural center. Definitely not my idea of a holiday (or even of a Sunday afternoon!) but wow, it was a really great idea to do it. Kudos!
Now I'm going to go back to being a walrus and laze around my TV room to watch something British. Just because.