Songwriter Sheppard Solomon won’t be watching the eighth season of American Idol, which is now in full swing – even though the singing contest has gotten him a lot of work. His latest single, “Feels Like Tonight,” performed by American Idol‘s fifth season finalist Chris Daughtry, reached the top of the charts last year, helping American Idol‘s most successful rockster clinch the best band award at the American Music Awards. Solomon has written album tracks for other American Idol winners and finalists: Kelly Clarkson, David Cook and David Archuleta, not to mention artists who made it the “old-fashioned” way, like Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias and Paris Hilton. The singing contest bores the Jewish 39-year-old bachelor, and it reflects his growing disillusionment with the mainstream music business.
“It’s become more about the wrong things,” he says during an interview at his home in the Hollywood Hills. “That’s why people don’t buy records. They don’t feel attached. It’s not real. It’s more plastic. People like Elton John, Bob Dylan, Sting, Jim Morrison – they were real artists with points of view.” READ MORE IN THE JERUSALEM POST