Gene Simmons may have proclaimed "rock is dead" this summer, but he didn't rule out resuscitating it.
He's trying to do the job himself with new show Coliseum, in which several wannabe rockers are pitted against each other and then melded together to create bands that compete for a chance at world domination.
"We want to create superstars, not just singers that get record deals," he told the Hollywood Reporter.
If you didn't catch all the shade thrown in that statement, Simmons made it clear that he despises TV singing competitions in the pop vein.
"You can't sugarcoat s---, pardon me," he said. "You can mentor anyone you like, but it's a waste of time if they don't have the goods intrinsically.
"Your qualification for being on this show is you can sing in the shower? Is that it, without paying any dues or writing songs or any stagecraft?"
In Coliseum, the KISS bassist and reality show vet will motivate acts before they perform in front of an audience.
"We want to open the trap doors of life and get tough," he said. "There will be heartbreak, and people are going to cry and their dreams will be shattered, just like in real life."
Sounds fun, right? Unlike those pop spectacles!
"TV shows are fantasy because they're selling soap suds," he said. "It's family entertainment, it's primetime, the kids are there, and they [broadcasters] don't want to get too realistic."
Simmons is not the only one salty about the dearth of big rock bands. Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry recently backed those infamous "rock is dead" comments.
"Well, I think he's right in the sense that this whole era of rock and roll has dwindled down to literally a cottage industry," Perry told BAM magazine. "When we started, being in a rock band was one step away from being an outlaw. No one ever said, 'Oh good, you're playing in a rock band, how wonderful!' But music was so important to the fans, that was our marching music to the revolution."
