“The Idol”: I don’t know who Jocelyn is when she is on her own
“The Idol” has an interesting and captivating storyline about the dynamics between a struggling pop princess and her possessive muse and her route to self salvation. The series, glamorous and retro as it is, saw the fragile pop princess on the verge of a breakdown found her supposed love interest and savior who turned out to be a liar and a manipulator. She found her own place in Tedros’ support after being told by the record label she doesn’t do good and she was probably not their top bitch anymore, and maybe she’s not worthy of their investment. Tedros made her feel worthy, feel loved, so when he showed his real image which was selfish and controlling, she felt betrayed and decided enough is enough. She kicked him out, ruined his reputation and his career and took control of her own career. She released the record, went on the tour, you know the rest.
Only problem for me is probably I couldn’t help but notice how she doesn’t seem to really deserve what she got in the end. She isn’t exactly talented. She doesn’t have an outstanding voice. Her vocals don’t impress me, they are often over produced or auto tuned so they can sound somewhat listenable. Tedros’ unnamed artists can sing way better than her. She couldn’t dance well, not as well as her backup dancers. She doesn’t have inspiration on her own. Her music style is blend pop music. The only edge she got is when she got touched by Tedros and she moaned and sang “I don’t want to decide things for myself, on my own.” Where is her moment when she was supposedly to be standing in her own light, making her own music and being her own person? Who is she without her muse, her manager and her team of artists?
And she didn’t even take control of her career on her own. The unknown artists impressed the label executives for the most part. Her manager got rid of Tedros, not her. She didn’t thrive, break a bone or two, write material into insanity or push herself to death in order to earn what she got in the end. She was a “pop princess”, who was protected by her manager, inspired by her love interest, supported by her unknown singers, while she only took credit when she needed it. I don’t know if I can identify with her or like her as much as I want to.