weight and body ideals. The judges’ comments about who looks like an American idol or a star help form these celebrity values, particularly Simon’s opinions, who often speaks as the voice of the music industry, declaring which contestants would succeed after Idol.

While the show stresses the current beauty standard for contestants, the audience doesn’t necessarily heed the show’s advice. They vote for whom they like, thus crowning Ruben

Studdard and Taylor Hicks winners, despite that neither looked like a typical celebrity.

While winners of the show may not have necessarily fit the established beauty models, such as Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks, the judges and overall show discourse stress the idealized version of celebrity. However, that those winners have not achieved much success outside of the show supports that these show-promoted standards still stand in

American culture. Additionally, for every Taylor Hicks there is a winner like Carrie

Underwood, beautiful and nice in a conventional way.

Moreover, authenticity is necessary in reality TV to achieve success and celebrity.

While the celebrity discourse epitomizes the way celebrities appear and behave, the archetypal discourse helps fabricate the authenticity of the stars. The discourse-formed archetypes indicate which archetypes people of varied races may inhabit, who may be sexual, and what kinds of sexuality are permitted. Archetypes inform contestants how to act, what to sing, and how to look. In turn, conforming to archetypes is a requirement for authenticity. The authentic portrayal of an archetype helps to foment celebrity. Each archetype, while confining each contestant to certain traits, supposedly matches who the contestants are. Through the archetypes, each contestant is boiled down to an easily digestible persona, familiar and predictable.

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