I can say that being a Corrs fan has really made me very skeptical of the press and media. Sadly, the guiding principle of some newspapers is not the TRUTH, but rather what SELLS newspapers. These types of newspapers even have a name: “tabloids”. They exist for one primary purpose – to sell papers and sell advertising. Some tabloids even go so far as to publish photos of topless women to sell papers. So, at the outset, we have to realize that we're dealing with a tabloid article.
There are several ways in which a reporter can write an article that will sell, but none of them involve telling the readers anything that is boring and ordinary, and they always seem to use
unnamed sources. They will try to create sensation. This is done either by writing about a scandal, something that will anger people, or something that the reporter knows people want to hear. When the truth is somewhat humdrum
(i.e. the Corrs are taking a break because they are raising families and Andrea used this break to record an album), these tabloid reporters know that they will have to become a bit “creative” in how they approach the story. This particular article is classic "tabloid" because it combines (1) an attack on Andrea as somehow "fallen"; (2) great rumour of a Corrs reunion; and (3) the use of an unnamed source (“a
group insider revealed”).
Following a band that, very unfortunately, doesn’t communicate much or well through its official channel (Corrs Official Website), I have learned to become skeptical of what I read about the Corrs in the media. So much information has turned out to be completely false.
There was an article that came out prior to the release of
Ten Feet High in which it was reported that Andrea Corr was working with “handlers” to help her break big-time into the American celebrity scene. This went against just about everything we know about Andrea. It even went against a song she wrote
. Still, many Corrs fans took it seriously. For some (especially the U.S. fans), it was what they wanted to hear (“Andrea is coming to the U.S.!”); for others, it made them angry to read that Andrea was “selling out” to become some kind of Irish Christina Aguilera. This is EXACTLY what the reporter had intended: to create a sensation and arouse passions.
Now we see a tabloid article that essentially tells us that Andrea tried to go solo and she flopped, so therefore her siblings are going to regroup and come to the rescue. We have to approach such an article critically. We ALL here want to hear that the Corrs have plans to regroup, and to hear it certainly makes us excited. However, what about the premise of this article?
Does it sound true that Andrea was attempting to have
solo career? This goes against everything that Andrea herself has said. Andrea never said that she was planning a solo
career. Instead, she said that she made this album because the timing was right, because years ago she had been offered a contract to do it, and Jim, Sharon and Caroline were busy spending time with their families. I choose to believe Andrea.
With all we fans know about the temperaments of Caroline, Sharon and Jim, do we
really believe that they would have a “secret meeting to discuss a spectacular comeback album and tour in 2008” and that they would be trying to “rediscover the magic that has made them one of the biggest bands on the planet in the 90s”? As much as I would love the Corrs to record a new album and tour again, this just doesn’t sound like the Corrs I know; they’re not that full of themselves to ever say that they things like “
rediscover the magic.” If they were to get together again, it would never be their goal to revive their past glory, but instead to simply make the best music they can.
Personally, I don’t like the reporter’s use of the term “flop” to describe Andrea's album – I understand that sales were not great in places like the UK and Ireland, but she’s not “flopping” in Spain. I also don’t like the term “flop” because it leads a casual reader to assume that the music on the CD was bad, which is not the case.
The article makes it seem as if a Corrs’ decision to re-unite would be based on Andrea’s failure. The truth is that any decision by the band to re-unite will be based on what is best for each of them and the particular needs of their families. Taken logically, the lack of commercial success of
Ten Feet High might actually encourage the Corrs to stay in comfortable retirement with their growing families, rather than attempt a comeback.
And maybe that “group insider” should have told the reporter that Caroline has
three, not two, children. This error should be a clue.
Like Simone, I am hoping (and I'll even pray
) that the Corrs will be back. They very well may be coming back, but I’m not pinning all my hopes on this sensationalistic tabloid article.
