Thursday, May 28, 2009
Britain's Got Talent?
I have been prompted to write this post by a column in the Telegraph today written by Bryony Gordon. I have enjoyed watching Britain's Got Talent but not for any potential talent but the entertaining comments spoken by Simon Cowell. Simon has his finger on the pulse and his comments are well judged. The other two judges are tame and are too busy bottom licking.
To call these auditions talent is stretching it a bit. Someone sings a song they have not written or played an instrument on and we are supposed to clap and vote for them. A group of people bop around dancing and we are supposed to whoop with delight. No, I think Bryony has pitched her column right, Britain's Got Talent is nothing more than karoke and people showing off with a bit of dancing. If it was not for the witty and informed comments from Simon Cowell this programme would not be worth watching. Ant and Dec are nice presenters but reading an autocue is not rocket science. Is adult literacy a talent?
I have been prompted to write this post by a column in the Telegraph today written by Bryony Gordon. I have enjoyed watching Britain's Got Talent but not for any potential talent but the entertaining comments spoken by Simon Cowell. Simon has his finger on the pulse and his comments are well judged. The other two judges are tame and are too busy bottom licking.
To call these auditions talent is stretching it a bit. Someone sings a song they have not written or played an instrument on and we are supposed to clap and vote for them. A group of people bop around dancing and we are supposed to whoop with delight. No, I think Bryony has pitched her column right, Britain's Got Talent is nothing more than karoke and people showing off with a bit of dancing. If it was not for the witty and informed comments from Simon Cowell this programme would not be worth watching. Ant and Dec are nice presenters but reading an autocue is not rocket science. Is adult literacy a talent?
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It's not often I disagree with you Stephen, but have to lodge a comment about the BGT final.
The premise of the programme is to show that there are talented people out there who lay undiscovered. The prize - apart from £100k - is a much-coveted spot at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Her Majesty.
Your argument does hold some water in the preliminary rounds, where what can only be described as the Great Unwashed is allowed to enter. Having no other entry requirement other than having a talent to show encourages this. Eating as many Ferrero Rocher as you can in 1 minute is, I'll happily agree, not a talent; nor is attempting to Moonwalk like Jacko while dressed as Darth Vader.
But what many of the finalists in last night's show had is something that cannot phycially be taught. Take Susan Boyle - the Scottish spinster. Sure she's a little odd and untraditional, but the voice she has is something that no end of training is guaranteed to produce. To hear her sing with such an amazing Falsetto is astounding. She was, lest we forget, completely undiscovered, laying dormant with this completely awe-inspiring voice than simply cannot be matched by Mr Average.
What about the winners - Diversity. Sure, they're just street dancers and many disillusioned black men are turning to this. But the choreography and the aerobatics on display were phenomonal. These guys could easily be mistaken for professionals and yet until the prelims, lay completely undiscovered.
Their choreography is wholly self-taught and yet another area where their talent is displayed. I've never applauded at the TV in my life until their absolutely amazing performance last night.
The average man cannot physically do what many of the finalists do, regardless of the hours they put in. This is why, in my opinion, BGT is such a success. ITV had 15 million viewers watch one of the semi-finals - the channel's not enjoyed ratings of this magnitude for over a decade (excluding Coronation Street specials).
I agree with your comments about Simon Cowell - his comments are generally in keeping with my opinions and his veracious honesty is just what some of these chancers deserve. Amanda Holden, to my knowledge, has no more reason to judge people's talent than I do; nor does Piers Morgan.
Morgan's not a Yes man. His reputation as editor of the NOTW was anything but. He took the role as judge as a PR exercise, after the battering he took over his then paper's fake photos of British troops assaulting Iraqis. He took a lucky punt on the popularity of the show and came up trumps.
Apologies for the length response.
The premise of the programme is to show that there are talented people out there who lay undiscovered. The prize - apart from £100k - is a much-coveted spot at the Royal Variety Performance in front of Her Majesty.
Your argument does hold some water in the preliminary rounds, where what can only be described as the Great Unwashed is allowed to enter. Having no other entry requirement other than having a talent to show encourages this. Eating as many Ferrero Rocher as you can in 1 minute is, I'll happily agree, not a talent; nor is attempting to Moonwalk like Jacko while dressed as Darth Vader.
But what many of the finalists in last night's show had is something that cannot phycially be taught. Take Susan Boyle - the Scottish spinster. Sure she's a little odd and untraditional, but the voice she has is something that no end of training is guaranteed to produce. To hear her sing with such an amazing Falsetto is astounding. She was, lest we forget, completely undiscovered, laying dormant with this completely awe-inspiring voice than simply cannot be matched by Mr Average.
What about the winners - Diversity. Sure, they're just street dancers and many disillusioned black men are turning to this. But the choreography and the aerobatics on display were phenomonal. These guys could easily be mistaken for professionals and yet until the prelims, lay completely undiscovered.
Their choreography is wholly self-taught and yet another area where their talent is displayed. I've never applauded at the TV in my life until their absolutely amazing performance last night.
The average man cannot physically do what many of the finalists do, regardless of the hours they put in. This is why, in my opinion, BGT is such a success. ITV had 15 million viewers watch one of the semi-finals - the channel's not enjoyed ratings of this magnitude for over a decade (excluding Coronation Street specials).
I agree with your comments about Simon Cowell - his comments are generally in keeping with my opinions and his veracious honesty is just what some of these chancers deserve. Amanda Holden, to my knowledge, has no more reason to judge people's talent than I do; nor does Piers Morgan.
Morgan's not a Yes man. His reputation as editor of the NOTW was anything but. He took the role as judge as a PR exercise, after the battering he took over his then paper's fake photos of British troops assaulting Iraqis. He took a lucky punt on the popularity of the show and came up trumps.
Apologies for the length response.
# posted by 
: 31 May 2009 at 19:39
: 31 May 2009 at 19:39
Graham: I like your lengthy response, you have not lost your blogging skill. ITV will be well happy with 15 million viewers on a Saturday night. Gail reckons Diversity only got 25% of the votes to win the prize.
The zoo will re-open on Thursday night on Channel 4 with a new series of Big Brother.
The zoo will re-open on Thursday night on Channel 4 with a new series of Big Brother.
I suppose the low percentage awarded to the winners shows how highly matched most of the finalists were. I would imagine that all of the 'big three' political parties would love to be assured of that percentage if a general election were to be called right now. I don't think they'd receive it though.
I'm not one for the reality TV shows; the only one I watch is I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! purely to see has-beens squirm in a vat full of eel's puss in an attempt to have a second wave of stardom.
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I'm not one for the reality TV shows; the only one I watch is I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! purely to see has-beens squirm in a vat full of eel's puss in an attempt to have a second wave of stardom.
# posted by : 1 June 2009 at 20:58
: 1 June 2009 at 20:58Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
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