(openPR) - An Idol contestant has decided to take the Idol competition online
ADELAIDE, SA – April 27, 2008 – The fifth anniversary of the Logie Award-winning Australian Idol has meant a few changes. If taking the auditions to London and the removal of "touchdown" Mark weren’t enough, ex-Disney pop DJ, and Marketing/Corporate Law student from South Australia, has decided to take the Australian Idol competition online with a self-described "massive viral campaign", targeting "teenagers who think that it's funny that the tomato turned red cuz he was embarrassed".
With over 10,000 MySpace views already, following the examples of highly acclaimed film "My Date with Drew", the self-described "bad boy rock star" has taken an unprecedented step of utilizing the online web page medium to maximize his exposure, through the website www.myrockstardream.com/ . The website doesn’t even try to hide the fact that it is another teen viral site, utilizing a stream of self-fulfilling prophesy, reverse-psychology, and teen jargon. The web site also includes a guest book where people can enter comments, to help Shum fulfill his three-step plan to becoming a rock star: (1) dating the biggest teen celeb on earth (Miley Cyrus); (2) winning idol and going multi-platinum; and (3) going #1 on YouTube ratings, all before the age of 20. Shum describes the importance of utilizing the online medium, "The Internet is at the pinnacle of importance in youth subculture, and as such provides a form of leverage to the televised medium that is highly viral, and demonstrates world-class industry competitiveness".
As a part of the "shock" campaign, the site anecdotally plays with Channel 7’s criticism of religious vote-stacking and doesn’t even try to hide the fact of shameless promotion, stating that you should vote for him because he "is Asian". The site also describes (Disney pop star) Miley Cyrus as a "Christian bad girl".
Shum also jokes, "I decided that if I won the $1,000,000 prize that I would donate it to a charity to help kids in Africa, since I realized that, just like Ashlee Simpson, I probably couldn’t win by singing/shouting (sometimes the wrong notes), which manipulates people to sympathetically vote since they believe it is for a charitable purpose, and perspective of this statement, are utterly confused of an appropriate response", adding that he would ask the judges if he could use a "backing track" just in case.
A self described "shock star", Shum is excited to once and for all "offset" Kyle Sandilands in terms of publicity stunts, stating that he will "(not so) subliminally promote products every TV appearance". "I think what the Australian public is looking for is not only a contestant", Shum stated, "but a star that will have commercial viability out there in the real world, and I believe I offer that competitive edge", echoing the words of American Idol judge Simon Cowell.
"I hope I win", Shum says, "As my friend joked, if I don’t win, it’s because the judges are retarded", he laughs.
Jeremy Shum studied a music scholarship at a Government-accredited Specialist Music High School. He is currently completing his tertiary studies in Business, Law, and Music. He is classically trained in the piano since he was 4, and has been singing since he was 11. He describes himself as a "bad boy" who is like a mash up of Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, and Hilary Duff – but described himself as "the real thing". Web address – www.myrockstardream.com and www.myspace.com/jeremyshum
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