rileybug said:
I've wondered the same thing... I watched AI last year and the year before, I'm skipping this year since I now think it's a fraud. I just wonder why the American version of the show doesn't allow U2 songs, while the Australian version, Canadian version and the Norwegian version all have allowed U2 songs to be sung several times each during the finals of the shows. It seems especially weird since Simon Cowell has said he likes U2. Are they too cheap to pay for the rights? Is that why we get Nickelback or Lynrd Skynrd instead of U2? That's another reason I'm skipping this year... how many Whitney Houston and Celine Dion songs must we endure every year? I had enough. And while we're at it, why no U2 songs on Rock Star INXS? I waited and waited... but nothing. I thought that would be a great fit. Or are the INXS guys jealous of U2's success? After all, they were kind of neck and neck for "World's Biggest Band" status back in 1987. Might be some bitterness there. Who knows.
I think you have your years wrong there.
JT was 1987.
The following year, 1988, "Kick" became a huge hit in the U.S.
So while U2 was all over 1987, INXS had their claim in 1988. It's debatable if INXS won, though, because JT was SO huge that it lingered on well into 1988, and then, by the year's end, "Desire" and R&H were released.
Regardless of the years, I think there's no U2 on AI due to a rights issue. This is the same thing iTunes is facing. Each country has their legal battles. Perhaps, for whatever reason, these Idol shows in other countries have the rights to U2's songs, but the U.S. doesn't.
That said, I think singing U2's songs would be very challenging. Current U2 is too popular - everyone's heard "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day". As such, the singers would be compared to Bono/U2 and that's tough for any starting artist. If one goes back in time, say to the AB era - well... Bono purposely sang the songs on AB such that they weren't all that vocally challenging (note the whisper of "The Fly" or the near spoken voice of "Even Better Than..." or "Until the End of the World"). As this is a singing competition, AB songs won't really light up an audience or the judges. If we go back to the UF/JT/R&H eras, then we have Bono belting out songs - which is probably rather difficult for the singers to do. So my guess is that a lot of them might purposely avoid singing U2. I know I would (that is, if I could sing, were young enough to be on the show and were stupid enough to audition).
but I'm sincerely curious as to why we haven't heard more.
I especially wanted to see the faux INXS cover tired U2 songs too. We must be twins.
