I have never viewed the "American Idol" show on commercial television,
but its impact seems to be tremendous.  This season's runner-up entertainer,
Clay Aiken, just released his first cd and it sold 613,000 copies during
the first week.  By comparison, Barbara Streisand's new cd, "Movie Album",
sold only 162,000 copies its first week.  I'm not a big fan of Streisand,
but she is an American icon.  This reminds me of rookie professional
athletes who get multi-million dollar contracts, while veteran athletes
wonder - "What am I, chopped liver"?

I was thinking that a prime-time tv contest among Gil Shaham, Maxim
Vengerov, Hillary Hahn, and a few other violinists might have a big
impact on record sales.  Any opinions?  We could even have Lara St.
John as a half-dressed contestant.

Don Satz
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