BGSU prof studies 'Idol' phenomenon

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Katherine Meizel came late to popular music.

Growing up in a family of musicians, scientists and teachers in California, she loved classical music, and followed her muse into a career as an opera singer.

Then, after earning a degree in performance from Oberlin College, she headed back West to do graduate work.

Teaching voice students, she felt she needed to learn something about the popular music they were interested in and was intrigued by an article in the New York Times criticizing the style of singing on the hit show. She watched a few episodes of the first season of "American Idol."

Something clicked. She watched all of season two.

Meizel, now in her second year as an instructor at Bowling Green State University, has a book forthcoming on Indiana University Press, "Idolized: Music, Media, and Identity in 'American Idol'" that carries the tag line "How a TV Show Changed the Way We Hear America Singing."

Full Story

The Sentinel Tribune is a FOX Toledo News media partner