| Has the TV talent show of this kind died a death? For better or worse, I think these kind of shows are far from dead. Big Brother is effectively a talent show and it's growing every year. And of course most people in TV tend to work several paces behind public taste such that, even if these shows are on a downturn, it will be a slow and painful death. Think about the run of Popstars Australia that was the so-called highlight of ITV2's programming last year. Why are we seeing people such as Hearsay/Pop Idols/Soapstars becoming failures so quickly? It's because there's such a massive void between pop stars and TV stars. PJ & Duncan - a/k/a Ant & Dec - were the living reminder of that when they presented Pop Idol every week. Kylie is the exception that proves the rule. I don't think Hear'say have failed, they've just been sucked out of the land of the starstruck hopefuls and into the world of the mainstream music business - which is interested 99% in business and 1% in music. The public wanted to preserve their ear dums on a Saturday night so they voted for good singers on Pop Idol, not for great pop idols. True pop idols are characters and personalities as well as singers (Robbie Williams is proof of this, loathed as I am to admit it). Everyone knows YMCA Girl, but will you really remmeber Jessica Garlick (one of the club singers who made the final ten) next year? So this is why the ones that finally made the final ten will fail, or rather be forgotton, so quickly. For me, the failure of Soapstars, is slightly different. As a viewer, it looked like a cheap cash-in on the success of Popstars. The winners got irregular appearences in a B-list soap-opera. Which is nothing compared to what Hear'say got in promotion when they won their programme. So the Soapstars were bound to fail by comparison. As an experiment, it was worthwhile. As a publicity stunt for ITV and Emmerdale it was great. I didn't know Emmerdale was still going until I saw it on Soapstars! And what could gain more publicity than hiring these wanna-bes? I know, firing them! What is the predicted career span of someone who finds singing fame through a platform like this? If managed properly, their life as singers should be assured. Look at Jane MacDonald. You won't see her on Top Of The Pops, but her bookings in Blackpool, I assume, are safe until 2020. Their predicted carreer span as a pop star on the other hand is much less certain. We all wanted to have Will Young's babies a couple of weeks ago (well, some of us), but who the hell is he now? 'That guy that had the record out before Gareth.' That is purely down to the fact that once these hopefulls are ejected out of the ITV studios and into the hands of Simon Cowell and the like, they are more puppet-like than Thunderbirds. The mighty Darius had it ecactly right when he was - allegedly - quoted as saying that what his colleagues were vying to win was not a record deal but a 'poison chalice'. What can they hope for? What anyone of them can hope for is exactly what Andy Warhol promised them. Their fifteen minutes of fame. For any of them - or any of us - to think that it would be fifteen days, months or even more is completely nieve. Is there still a chance for any of them and in what field? I'd like to think there is hope for Pop Idols and the like. For every Simon Cowell there's a Pete Waterman. When Pete heard some of those singers he was moved to tears. Despite what you might think about some of his protegees like Jason Donvan and Sinitta, he clearly loves music. Simon on the other hand is the man responsible for records by Mr Blobby, The Power Rangers, Zig & Zag and - worst of all - Robson & Jerome. Need I say more? What is the point of doing these shows when the long term failure rate seems to be high? The point is simple. We, the public, love to see people sing bum notes and squirm through auditions from the security of our living rooms. I wouldn't buy a CD single of Will Young singing what sounds like rejected Westlife song (music I am sure he himself would never dream of buying). But when he fougt back to the pantomime dame and sung a song in a new and funky way (Light My Fire) all in one night he was God! The fact that you can have a conversation about all of this down the pub does prove that TV is at least stimulating debate which is more than can be said for some of the new programmes ITV was putting out a couple of years ago. Babes In The Wood, anyone? Roger Daltrey and others of his ilk are famous for "hating" Pop Idol and programmes like it. But they've missed the point. We are firmly in an era when the Top 40 is centred around manufactured 'artists'. So they may as well be artists the public have had a hand in putting there, rather then the only choice of records being from Blue, Five or Take That before them - IE manufactured bands that have been foisted upon us with no public involvement. Maybe this process of 'trial by public jury' will weed out both one-hit wonders and the embarassing manufactured band mistakes (E-Male, Vanilla et al) of the past. | |
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