Okay, this is not meant to be snarky but I am really scratching my head over the lineup VH1 has put together for the relaunch of their franchise “VH1 Divas”. Here’s the lineup: Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, Leona Lewis and Jordin Sparks. Apparently you only need one or two albums to qualify—such is the case with Adele, Lewis and Sparks. Yes I know new mom JHud only has one CD too, but I think she’s in a different league (so is Kelly Clarkson). Hudson also has an Oscar, a Golden Globe award and a few Grammys. Even teens qualify. Frankly, it’s kind of confusing. But a USA Today helped me understand what the network is trying to do. Apparently it is all about showcasing a three-dimensional diva (I didn’t know they were one-dimensional before).
VH1 president Tom Calderone [says] “It’s about strong women in control of their musical direction and their careers, who are activists and entrepreneurs, and are connected to their fans in ways that make them seem grounded and approachable.”
Umm…okay. I am willing to tune in for Hudson alone anyway. But I suspect that the network really chose this lineup because they want to capitalize on the legions of fans that these women will collectively attract. And we’ll get to see them interacting with them fans (sounds more MTV than VH1 to me).
But this might not be so bad after all because some women (and one man) who we may more readily bestow the ‘diva’ title on will be on hand to add some weight to the whole affair. Adele will be paired with India.Arie and, hold the screams please, JHud gets to sing with the legendary Stevie Wonder. Now that’s exciting! And other pairings that might be interesting are Sparks with country singer, Martina McBride, and Lewis with Cyndi Lauper.
Maybe we should all tune in to find out if this new definition fits.
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September 19th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
How I wish corporate people could be free to voice their true missions … these women were picked solely for demographic reasons. Diva, in VH-1’s universe, is solely a marketing scheme similar to the video awards being given out by a network that predominantly airs reality programming.
None of it’s real, so why take it serious??
September 19th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
You make a good point, everyone has an angle. And after spending my time watching that show (with finger on the FF button) I wanted my time back. I could watched the highlights on Youtube.