Saturday, 30 May 2009
Has Britain got talent?
is it just me? I am sick of these shows that exploit the feeble minded on primetime tv, 14 million people are expected to tune in tonight to watch an overwieght greek and his obese son prance around on stage under the guise of dancing while morons in the audience split their sides laughing, what about "singing sensation hairy angel" susan boyle, ok she can sing a bit but surely if she had anything about her she would have been "discovered" by now she is 48 for gods sake, and looking at her its obvious why she is still a virgin. and if I see one more sickly sweet kid that can sing in a cute voice and comes with the obligatory abused background I will scream. who would have thought it I miss Eric and Ern, I even feel a little nostalgic for cannon and ball. I more night of torture then 4 days relief before my other bugbear Big brother.
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Britain has talent but you won't find it on ITV1 on a Saturday night....
ReplyDeleteIn the past week alone I have seen 3 local bands in the Hertfordshire area that in my opinion would put the finalists of 'Britain's Got Talent' or 'X Factor' to shame. After each performance I was left scratching my head as to why these bands hadn’t been signed nor why that hadn’t been offered the opportunity to play to a wider audience especially as I have seen acts with a fraction of their ability on prime time TV.
Obviously, we are not comparing exactly like for like here as I am talking about rock bands (who write their own songs and play instruments) as opposed to X Factor contestants (who don’t). However, musicianship and song writing talent aside the reason you are likely to find genuine “talent” off screen and in your local music venue rather than on prime time UK television is because genuinely talented people do not require a mentor to decide how they should perform, what clothes they should wear, whom they should imitate in performance and which public persona they should adopt. Instead they do what comes naturally to them and this reflects in the originality of their performance, which tends to be honest and performed with passion and integrity unlike the over choreographed nonsense on reality shows where even smiles and tears are rehearsed.
It’s the naturalness and genuine passion for performing which ensures you will gain a greater value for money in watching a local unsigned band than someone who has been selected because their face is pretty or they have a sob story which will appeal to the nation. However, I am not saying that every unsigned band in the country has access to some limitless supply of talent where they all pull their ideas from and put on faultless mind blowing performances, of course as with everything there are varying standards of quality and I am willing to accept that its possible if I went to 3 separate local shows next week I wouldn’t see the same standard of performance again (although it’s possible also that I might). I would however be safe in the knowledge that what I am watching is the performers own choice and original ideas and not taken from the blueprints of ITV’s how to be a star paperwork file.
Although, I am not an avid watcher of these shows in fact I have never watched an entire episode of Britain’s Got Talent, I did however watch a fair bit of the last series of X-Factor mainly out of curiosity and also because in the last series they actually had someone who was a bit different to the usual bunch who make the latter stages, someone who didn’t have the classic pop diva voice and persona but actually performed the cover songs with her own unique spin on them, that was Dianne Vickers..... Needless to say she didn’t win.....(cont)....
....(cont).
ReplyDeleteMy displeasure at reality shows on the whole has perhaps more to do with the viewers and voters rather than the show itself as for some reason unbeknown to me the British public demand to see the same generic performances year after year so can you blame Simon Cowell for exploiting this? I’m adamant that every year is practically the same, I mean can someone please tell me a) the differences between former winners Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke and b) why they qualify as to having the “X-Factor” when we have already seen and heard everything they have to offer through the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Beyonce to name but a few. Maybe I’m too fussy but I like to listen to music that is bursting with originality and energy straight from the source that has created it, I don’t need it to be rubber stamped with Mr Cowells approval before it’s aired and I don’t need it polished so it is prim and proper and nicely packaged, I much prefer the edgy raw sound of honest artists on a stage baring their souls. So if you want to do the same and not be force fed recycled sounds turn your TV off at 8pm on Saturday night and check your local gig listings as there is plenty of genuine talent out there you just have to maybe search a little further than your living room.
Brilliant post Erman. this post deserves a wider audience than it will get on here.
ReplyDeleteSounds like someone has a gig on Saturday at 8pm and is trying to get people to buy tickets... ;)
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, that's a very well written piece and raises some valid points. Show that to the biggest X Factor fan and they'll find it difficult to argue a point back or even continue to watch/vote/promote.