Friday, February 26, 2016

American Idol comes to a close with final 15th season

Julia Coburn
Jane Weinseimer

 American Idol has had a long and successful run. Most people remember the original judges, Simon Cowell alongside singer Paula Abdul and producer Randy Jackson because they really shaped the show to what it is today. Ryan Seacrest will be hosting the 15th and final season of this popular singing competition. It launched the career of singers such as Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, and Adam Lambert.  Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood had sales of 7,450,000 on her first album which is the most sales any American Idol winner has had on their first album . At the peak of American Idol in 2006 there were about 30 million viewers an episode but has fallen since then.
  “American Idol has been such a vital part of Fox for its run,” says Fox CEO Gary Newman. Even though American Idol is coming to an end because of its lack of views we still have plenty of singing and competition shows on television. The Voice, America's Got Talent and many other shows are all spin offs of American Idol. Netflix and Amazon prime are two very popular platforms to watch TV and is the way most people are watching television now. About 40 million people in the U.S. watch netflix. American Idol can not be accessed with those platforms because it is a live, interactive reality show.  American Idol has definitely changed how we watch television today and will be a show that people will never forget.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Composer John Williams scores for Star Wars The Force Awakens

Lexi Anderson
News Editor

Jurassic Park, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, are all iconic films that everyone knows and loves, and all have been brought to life by the same extraordinary composer, John Williams.
 Williams, winner of five Academy Awards, seventeen Grammys, three Golden Globes, two Emmys, and five BAFTA awards, has been composing music since 1950. He studied at both UCLA and The Juilliard School, and even worked as a jazz pianist for music legend Henry Mancini. He has provided the music for all of Steven Spielberg’s movies, except for two: The Color Purple and Bridge of Spies. Fortunately, Williams and Spielberg will be collaborating once again in Spielberg's adaptation of Roald Dahl’s whimsical story “The BFG,” coming out in 2016.
Recently, Williams returned to the beloved Star Wars universe with the newest addition to the franchise, The Force Awakens, that hit the theaters December 18 in 2015. “I felt a renewed energy, and a vitality, and a freshness that did not estrange any of the characters or material from the texture and fabric of Lucas’ creation — but revivified it,” says Williams, when asked about scoring the new movie. The new score intertwines themes from the previous films with new breathtaking scores, as seen with “Rey’s Theme,” where hints of the piece, “The Force Theme” linger.
 William’s scores do a spectacular job at making any movie come to life. The iconic scenes such as E.T. and Elliot flying across the moon or a T-Rex rampaging across Isla Nublar straight towards Ian Malcolm would simply not leave such a lasting impression if they were not accompanied by such excellent music. There’s nothing quite like the twinge of nostalgia we feel when the opening credits of a film roll and all we hear is the soft melodies of a Williams score. At 83 years of age, Williams still effortlessly comes out with score after score, totaling over 100 (and that’s just movie scores). Let’s hope he has many more to come.