Everyone is entitled my opinion...
X Factor…
Has there ever been a television program with such a mis-leading title?
I have been meaning to write about X Factor for a few weeks now, but I realised that this would entail actually WATCHING the show. And quite frankly, I don’t get paid enough (read: anything) to do that. However, I have managed to catch snippets of the program, usually through my hands as they shield my eyes from the horror…
First impressions… none of them can bloody well sing. Surely this a pre-requisite for entering such a competition? I wouldn’t listen to this bunch at a karaoke night after a skinful of Stella and countless shooters. And would it kill any of them to sing the actual notes from the melody of the songs they are singing? Serial offenders of this are Amanda and India-Rose (her parents were obviously fighting over what to call her…) who seem to be incapable of singing a well-known song with anything approaching a recognisable tune.
The format of the show (another Simon Cowell money spinner) is tiresome beyond belief. Pitting the “judges” against each other is supposed to add another layer of competitiveness to the show, but instead it only succeeds in making a music talent show into more of a sporting contest than Australian Idol ever did. Check out the way people cheer when a contestants hits a note. Wow, just like when a team scores a goal. Or when they move on stage. Wow, they can sing AND move at the same time. Amazing.
As usual, I won’t go into bagging the judges. Natalie Imbruglia is totally gorgeous and is probably the only reason I can watch the show for any length of time. And that Ronan McFadden…well, we obviously don’t have enough Irish boy band retirees in the country.
Unfortunately, this is the only way record labels can break new artists in the current climate. It costs too much money to build an audience, so they just get the TV show to do all the work, pick up the winner at the end, drop the album just in time for Christmas and then move on to the next season the following year. It’s so efficient and like all talent competitions, it has NOTHING to do with music.
