Linda Perry is not a fan of singing reality competitions, especially not American Idol.
In a new interview, the music producer, who has worked with the likes of Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, and Dolly Parton, just to name a few, opened up about what the show is really about and that’s unrealistic expectations.
“I wish American Idol, I wish and pray to God right now, that they would just call me and put me on that show, because I am fed up with that s***,” Linda shared with Yahoo Entertainment. “I’m fed up with it.”
She continues, “Come on, people, come on. Are you really going to carry this message of falseness and gloss and just non-reality for all these years? … You put me on for one show, and I’ll show you what ‘reality’ TV really is and what giving kids actual information and critiques and helping them go to the next level really looks like and sounds like.”
“Because what you’re doing, it’s only for yourself. It’s only for the judges. It has nothing to do with those poor kids that are putting themselves out there. They’ll be walking away with nothing. I’ll tell you that they’re walking away losers, no matter who wins.”
Linda admits that if she was on the show, she would tell the hopefuls what they really need to hear.
“Putting somebody down and not giving them a reason why is a problem for me,” she says. “If we are really trying to help these kids, I would say, ‘Listen, I get it. I see your passion. I see you want to do this. But here’s the deal. You’re a bar band. You’re not going to go anywhere, because you don’t have the personality that it takes.’ Talent is one thing. But having charisma and rock-star personality, that’s a whole other thing. These two go hand-in-hand. So if you just ‘got talent,’ that’s not enough. You gotta have a personality.”
Linda adds that the show is “pulling off [people from] the streets that look like anybody, they’re not going to go anywhere, because those are the only people they can get. … The Patti Smiths, Rolling Stones, they’re not the kinds of kids that are going to be waiting in line to get on American Idol. It’s all the rejects… their moms are telling them they’re popular or they sound great. It’s the non-starters that make it on American Idol.”
That being said, Linda wouldn’t say no to join the show as a judge. However, she’d tell hopefuls the truth, too.
“Now, if I were a judge on American Idol, they would get actually better people. There would be more quality, because I would stand tall and stand strong on something like that,” she says. “Put me on. I dare you, American Idol.”
American Idol returns Sunday, February 14 on ABC.
If you didn’t see, this daughter of a politician recently auditioned for the show!
