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TORONTO - American Idol wannabes who miss out at their chance of stardom on the popular television singing contest are finding their 15 minutes of fame elsewhere -- online.
With the sixth series of American Idol topping TV ratings this month, aspiring singers across North America are flocking
to a growing list of online music competitions which require no auditions but can offer prizes and even recording contracts.
Take 14-year-old Mallory Simmermon of Lindenhurst, Illinois.
She missed out on even trying to get onto American Idol as contestants have to be aged 16 plus so instead entered online contest American Idol Underground which is licensed by the producers of the TV show and offers a $10,000 prize.
"If I could, I would be putting myself out there are lot more, but because of the age limit it is hard to get yourself heard on shows like American Idol," Simmermon told Reuters.
Technology analyst Charlene Li from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research said online competitions had been fuelled by the easy availability of video cameras and a trend toward what she called the "open culture."
Like other sites with user-generated content, entrants just upload an audio or video clip and invite ratings from other users -- few of whom are as cutting as American Idol judge Simon Cowell. Some charge a fee for entering.
"People are much more willing to put themselves out there because they've seen American Idol. They have uploaded videos to YouTube and they have profile pages on MySpace," she said.
But in addition to exposure and prizes, some competition sites also offer a recording contract, like Music Nation, whose US competition is sponsored by Epic records, home to Michael Jackson and Shakira.
From January 29 voters will start voting on the contestants with the competition running for 15 weeks. Three winners from the categories pop, rock and urban will be awarded recording contracts with Epic Records.
One of the most viewed rock videos submitted to Music Nation is Prove me Wrong by Washington, D.C.-based band Cobbler, which has been playing local venues and is hoping the competition will lead to stardom.
Cobbler's drummer, Mike Lucente, said getting on TV was difficult unless a band had an "in" and Cobbler had so far competed only in "battles of the bands", a concert where the prize goes to the act with the most support.
"It's pretty much any local band's dream to get picked up by a major label. Breaks in the business are far and few between, especially nowadays, it seems, so to have an offer would be great," said Lucente.
Simmermon and Lucente said another advantage of online contests was that artists could use original compositions, rather than performing songs from a pre-selected list as on television.
Li said the surge in user-generated content on the internet was providing music wannabes with a new avenue.
"If people who use these online competitions can get a following, just like on (online video sharing site) YouTube, they can become stars," she said.
- REUTERS