I think the biggest issue with Gary is there is nobody to replace him. The Tulisa seat is interchangeable - there are enough female judges/acts around for one of them to give it a go, whether it be Sharon, Mel B, Dannii, Cheryl etc. but male talent judges are very thin on the ground.
Saying all this, I think it should be a lot easier to stablise the UK version than the US version; the UK version has history and some viewer loyalty, though it's running the risk of testing that at the moment. I think the production team did take a back seat with the UK show last year, thinking it could look after itself so they could tend to the US version; that backfired. I highly doubt, and hope, they'll make the same error again and a combination of Gary-Nicole-Sharon-Louis looks ok on paper - as long as they go back to traditional song choices/acts instead of trying to modernise the show at every turn.
I agree. Apart from Robbie - there's been very little speculation about who will replace Gary. From the minute the XF finished it seemed likely he would leave, yet the speculation has largely been about Tulisa.
No disrespect to Tulisa or Cheryl but their roles on the show only work if they've got someone to interact with. Cheryl on her own, is actually quite boring imo (I thought she added nothing to judges houses last year)
I think it's interesting that a lot of the speculation about Cheryl is about her AND Simon being back together on the same panel.
If Cheryl had returned to the UK show after the sacking, and was on the panel with Gary, Kelly R and Louis - it would have been equally boring.
With Tulisa, she was billed initially as being different to other judges because of her 'urban roots'. Simon even tried to create interest in that initial press release about what her relationship with Louis would be like; he thought they'd clash. Obviously that didn't happen, Tulisa and Louis get on famously, (which I personally find enjoyable to watch) but Simon probably wants a competitive chemistry and that just wasn't there last year. Nicole was great, but other than Gary, she didn't really interact with anyone. Tulisa didn't interact at all (hence the sacking stories) and that's the problem. She was just there, on her own.
The only good chemistry last year was between Gary and Rylan
Going back to that Mirror article though - did her team write it because it sounds at bit OTT with all this 'she's the saviour' talk:
They have fallen by up to three million since she was a regular on the show and the average for the last series is 8.2 million – well behind American Idol.
Are they seriously suggesting that the rating went down only because she was sacked? She only appeared for about an hour or two. She wasn't even a 'regular'. :rolleyes:
Either way - the story makes her look in demand whether it's true or not. Look at all those constant stories about her being on Glee - clearly not true but they were never denied.
(They'll probably deny it now I've written this post )
She may have been speaking to Glee around the time she was first over on XF USA - i guess after that went down the pan they wouldnt have seen her as having the profile. The actual cast even said they were aware of her and Glee so i doubt was just made up.
I wonder if what with the XF contract negotiations that will have to happen after this series if it is to stay on air they will negotiate it away from being an autumn series in the UK so that Simon and Cheryl can do both countries.
There must be HUGE pressure on her to pull this off in America - second time unlucky would make the show even more of a disaster story.
Comments
I agree. Apart from Robbie - there's been very little speculation about who will replace Gary. From the minute the XF finished it seemed likely he would leave, yet the speculation has largely been about Tulisa.
No disrespect to Tulisa or Cheryl but their roles on the show only work if they've got someone to interact with. Cheryl on her own, is actually quite boring imo (I thought she added nothing to judges houses last year)
I think it's interesting that a lot of the speculation about Cheryl is about her AND Simon being back together on the same panel.
If Cheryl had returned to the UK show after the sacking, and was on the panel with Gary, Kelly R and Louis - it would have been equally boring.
With Tulisa, she was billed initially as being different to other judges because of her 'urban roots'. Simon even tried to create interest in that initial press release about what her relationship with Louis would be like; he thought they'd clash. Obviously that didn't happen, Tulisa and Louis get on famously, (which I personally find enjoyable to watch) but Simon probably wants a competitive chemistry and that just wasn't there last year. Nicole was great, but other than Gary, she didn't really interact with anyone. Tulisa didn't interact at all (hence the sacking stories) and that's the problem. She was just there, on her own.
The only good chemistry last year was between Gary and Rylan
Going back to that Mirror article though - did her team write it because it sounds at bit OTT with all this 'she's the saviour' talk:
Are they seriously suggesting that the rating went down only because she was sacked? She only appeared for about an hour or two. She wasn't even a 'regular'. :rolleyes:
She may have been speaking to Glee around the time she was first over on XF USA - i guess after that went down the pan they wouldnt have seen her as having the profile. The actual cast even said they were aware of her and Glee so i doubt was just made up.
I wonder if what with the XF contract negotiations that will have to happen after this series if it is to stay on air they will negotiate it away from being an autumn series in the UK so that Simon and Cheryl can do both countries.
There must be HUGE pressure on her to pull this off in America - second time unlucky would make the show even more of a disaster story.