Fischoff Woes

This is in relation to the Fischoff Competition Fan Site on Facebook, where it say "Like American Idol, but with real musicians."



First off, I would like to say that I am a classically trained violist and love to hear all the fantastic musicians that attend the Fischoff Competition on your website.

That being said, I just found this webpage and am really quite angry about the box on the left that says "Like American Idol, but with real musicians." I believe this is utterly incorrect and inappropriate. Sure, we are very different musicians then those on American Idol, but would you also say that since I am not at the level to be entered in the competition and enjoy watching (sometimes very talented) musicians sing, that I do not qualify as a musician?

I believe there are many talented musicians that are involved in American Idol and to sit here and look down on all the hard work they have put in to be where they are is very degrading. Many people enjoy the music they are singing, which I believe if you can express anything through music, then you are a musician. Those Musicians on the show deal with an incredible amount of pressure and judgment that can be paralleled to the competition. They work hard to take a piece of music, however crappy classical musicians think it is, and make it their own.

I believe this site is encouraging a stereotype that classical musicians are self absorbed, stuck up, and extremely closed minded. This is one of the many reasons people feel so intimidated by classical music. If we tell them they can't appreciate classical music, then why would they give it a chance? Don't we want the people that enjoy music so much as to sit and watch American Idol to also watch the videos on your website? Why not spend energy trying to share our type of music in relation to American Idol instead of insulting them for enjoying pop music?

I know this is a lot to imply from one small sentence, but I do believe in seven words that this web page sums up the reason we are losing audiences and, consequently, jobs.