It is all just too predictable. You can see the final 12 even in the auditions. And then when it gets to the live shows it is basically like watching a re-run of the show you watched last year but with different looking people.
If Simon really does want to shake things up then he should get rid of the theme weeks and let the acts pick their own songs each week.
If this became a new feature of X Factor I reckon viewers would come back because the viewers would be intrigued to know what the songs would be.
The judges should also have one act from each category and get them to critique properly not just trot out the same lines that are just lazy and boring.
If Simon really does want to shake things up then he should get rid of the theme weeks and let the acts pick their own songs each week.
The judges should also have one act from each category and get them to critique properly not just trot out the same lines that are just lazy and boring.
^ I agree. I've always liked the idea of the judges having one act from each category.
and the judges comments is the most boring part of the show at the moment. Any chemistry they had during the auditions doesn't seem to be there during the live show imo. Sometimes I think they overly critique acts just to 'create' some fake drama.
removing themes wont help with song choices if there is a limit to the available songs anyway
this weeks theme being movies should not limit them to the same old songs they have chosen as the breadth of music available from movies is not being used
changing the structure so each judge would have an act from each category would not mean a reduction in the amount of fake critique as they would still blatantly lie about their own acts anyway
Themed weeks would have more wow moments and more disasters if the acts have a wee bit more control. As for judges' comments, they are rarely on point.
^ I agree. I've always liked the idea of the judges having one act from each category.
and the judges comments is the most boring part of the show at the moment. Any chemistry they had during the auditions doesn't seem to be there during the live show imo. Sometimes I think they overly critique acts just to 'create' some fake drama.
I don't think that they should mentor any category - it would then eliminate any attachment to the acts and then may be prompt more constructive criticism.
The acts then will then take advice from advisors on the show on image and choose their own songs within the limits of the category chosen. I reckon we will then see who can take on a pop career.
Ideally you would give XF and BGT a rest for a year or two as the talent pool is perhaps stretched too far.
No chance of that though.
Overall though the relative disinterest compared to its peak is down to the fact that its become a more serious (and therefore arguably boring) talent show with little talent actually on offer. It used to be a glorious pantomime brilliantly manipulated to keep people watching. And it probably didn't matter who actually won anyway.
100% correct! Simon's pushing of 1D and Olly over the winners just meant people finally realised that your vote didn't really count - the viewers have been disrespected, and so have switched off.
The viewers knew their votes didn't matter from series two after the nonsense with the Comway Sisters and Maria Lawson, and then Chico and the Conways. I certainly stopped taking it setiously from then on. Maria could have beaten Shane. Mind you, Sharon gave her a rubbish song or she wouldn't have been bottom two but she still had twice as many votes as the Conways. Simon later voted his own act, the Comways, off and saved Chico but that was just daft. It would have made more sense to have voted against them to save Maria.
Also, why do they have to 'buy' songs. Can't they perform what they like and pay the standard royalty rate to the relevant rights organisation? Surely that's how it works.
Also, why do they have to 'buy' songs. Can't they perform what they like and pay the standard royalty rate to the relevant rights organisation? Surely that's how it works.
not sure what the exact arrangements are but I know from comments made previously that they are limited to what songs they can use because of royalty issues
maybe they have rights to a certain package of songs across the x factor brand and that's why we see the same songs cropping up all the time
surely they cant just have so little imagination as to keep using the same songs over and over and over otherwise
Ok. That makes sense. Use songs they or a parent company already owns so that they pay themselves royalties. Sadly it makes for a Groundhog Day shpw, and I don't see Andi MacDowell turning up any time soon.
they keep saying they are giving the show a shake up, each year, and they do in a way, like move things around with the format, but that is all they change and move around is the format.
the real shake up simon cowell needs to do is make the x factor more like it was originally.
by that, the acts need to be more natural, to me it seems like a lot of the acts now are professionals or from talent agencies etc.
whereas when the x factor first started i think more of the acts were from the grass roots of society, especially at the x factor audition stages of the competition.
obviously as the show goes on the acts get molded by the producers, but not from the start, like a lot have already been molded from a talent agency, and this seems to help them get further at times as well, or it sometimes seems that way.
though the way society is, with all the kind of fake looking reality tv shows, it seems x factor is doomed to follow the same type of reality.
just the first few series of x factor seemed a lot more natural, now it all seems to be more manufactured, with a lot more of the acts.
so it is probably impossible for them to make the x factor like it once was and when it first got popular, but that would, be a real shake up if they did.
they keep saying they are giving the show a shake up, each year, and they do in a way, like move things around with the format, but that is all they change and move around is the format.
the real shake up simon cowell needs to do is make the x factor more like it was originally.
by that, the acts need to be more natural, to me it seems like a lot of the acts now are professionals or from talent agencies etc.
whereas when the x factor first started i think more of the acts were from the grass roots of society, especially at the x factor audition stages of the competition.
obviously as the show goes on the acts get molded by the producers, but not from the start, like a lot have already been molded from a talent agency, and this seems to help them get further at times as well, or it sometimes seems that way.
though the way society is, with all the kind of fake looking reality tv shows, it seems x factor is doomed to follow the same type of reality.
just the first few series of x factor seemed a lot more natural, now it all seems to be more manufactured, with a lot more of the acts.
so it is probably impossible for them to make the x factor like it once was and when it first got popular, but that would, be a real shake up if they did.
For some reason yoir post reminded me of this audition.
The viewers knew their votes didn't matter from series two after the nonsense with the Comway Sisters and Maria Lawson, and then Chico and the Conways. I certainly stopped taking it setiously from then on. Maria could have beaten Shane. Mind you, Sharon gave her a rubbish song or she wouldn't have been bottom two but she still had twice as many votes as the Conways. Simon later voted his own act, the Comways, off and saved Chico but that was just daft. It would have made more sense to have voted against them to save Maria.
I'm certain Cowell was behind the expulsion of Maria Lawson. Knowing how manipulated the show is, there's no way Cowell and the producers would let Louis vote one of the favourites off, supposedly in favour of saving an Irish act.....it was done to generate ratings and controversy.
The manipulation has always been there - and most people have been aware of it. If anything I'd say it got more people watching. But if there is an issue there then I think it's that Simon has left.
When he was there, he was the public face of the show. So if something was fixed he was the one that blamed. The comparison I often used is Vince McMahon's role in the (scripted!) WWF in the 90's as a billionaire "Chairman of the Board" (as he really was) manipulating and screwing over the other stars that the public loved (and he often did that in real life too!).
Now it's the shadowy producers in the background. People don't really get as outraged and don't have that thing where they want to support the "underdog" against Simon or see a third rate "credible" singer beat what became the biggest boyband in the world.
Ideally you would give XF and BGT a rest for a year or two as the talent pool is perhaps stretched too far.
No chance of that though.
I'm not sure this really works - the music industry keeps going every year. It doesn't take a year off. The top 12 isn't that bad this year and could have been even better if they'd made a couple of different decisions at judges houses.
100% correct! Simon's pushing of 1D and Olly over the winners just meant people finally realised that your vote didn't really count - the viewers have been disrespected, and so have switched off.
Ultimately Cowell can't control what sells. If he could then he'd be a billionaire. The fact is that the public that vote don't buy the records. Nobody could have made Joe McElderry sell more than Olly Murs or Matt Cardle sell more than One Direction.
Winning can't guarantee that you're any use as a recording artist, that you have any direction or that the best writers and producers want to work with you and give you songs.
You can go all the way back to the first series with this when G4 did far far better than Steve Brookstein.
The manipulation has always been there - and most people have been aware of it. If anything I'd say it got more people watching. But if there is an issue there then I think it's that Simon has left.
When he was there, he was the public face of the show. So if something was fixed he was the one that blamed. The comparison I often used is Vince McMahon's role in the (scripted!) WWF in the 90's as a billionaire "Chairman of the Board" (as he really was) manipulating and screwing over the other stars that the public loved (and he often did that in real life too!).
Now it's the shadowy producers in the background. People don't really get as outraged and don't have that thing where they want to support the "underdog" against Simon or see a third rate "credible" singer beat what became the biggest boyband in the world.
I'm not sure this really works - the music industry keeps going every year. It doesn't take a year off. The top 12 isn't that bad this year and could have been even better if they'd made a couple of different decisions at judges houses.
Ultimately Cowell can't control what sells. If he could then he'd be a billionaire. The fact is that the public that vote don't buy the records. Nobody could have made Joe McElderry sell more than Olly Murs or Matt Cardle sell more than One Direction.
Winning can't guarantee that you're any use as a recording artist, that you have any direction or that the best writers and producers want to work with you and give you songs.
You can go all the way back to the first series with this when G4 did far far better than Steve Brookstein.
The point there is not so much about what's selling, because I grant you your point somewhat, but more about perception. The public (in a lots of cases) perceives that the X Factor machine and Simon threw their support behind other acts at the expense of the winners. The public voted for that support to go to the winners. Whether you personally feel it did or not, what matters is what the voters feel. They're switching off and this is a contributory factor I believe.
I think Simon's departure did the most damage. Viewers no longer have their villain.
Comments
If this became a new feature of X Factor I reckon viewers would come back because the viewers would be intrigued to know what the songs would be.
The judges should also have one act from each category and get them to critique properly not just trot out the same lines that are just lazy and boring.
^ I agree. I've always liked the idea of the judges having one act from each category.
and the judges comments is the most boring part of the show at the moment. Any chemistry they had during the auditions doesn't seem to be there during the live show imo. Sometimes I think they overly critique acts just to 'create' some fake drama.
this weeks theme being movies should not limit them to the same old songs they have chosen as the breadth of music available from movies is not being used
changing the structure so each judge would have an act from each category would not mean a reduction in the amount of fake critique as they would still blatantly lie about their own acts anyway
I don't think that they should mentor any category - it would then eliminate any attachment to the acts and then may be prompt more constructive criticism.
The acts then will then take advice from advisors on the show on image and choose their own songs within the limits of the category chosen. I reckon we will then see who can take on a pop career.
No chance of that though.
Overall though the relative disinterest compared to its peak is down to the fact that its become a more serious (and therefore arguably boring) talent show with little talent actually on offer. It used to be a glorious pantomime brilliantly manipulated to keep people watching. And it probably didn't matter who actually won anyway.
The viewers knew their votes didn't matter from series two after the nonsense with the Comway Sisters and Maria Lawson, and then Chico and the Conways. I certainly stopped taking it setiously from then on. Maria could have beaten Shane. Mind you, Sharon gave her a rubbish song or she wouldn't have been bottom two but she still had twice as many votes as the Conways. Simon later voted his own act, the Comways, off and saved Chico but that was just daft. It would have made more sense to have voted against them to save Maria.
not sure what the exact arrangements are but I know from comments made previously that they are limited to what songs they can use because of royalty issues
maybe they have rights to a certain package of songs across the x factor brand and that's why we see the same songs cropping up all the time
surely they cant just have so little imagination as to keep using the same songs over and over and over otherwise
I can easily believe that. They have a blind "it ain't broke so why fix it?" attitude
the real shake up simon cowell needs to do is make the x factor more like it was originally.
by that, the acts need to be more natural, to me it seems like a lot of the acts now are professionals or from talent agencies etc.
whereas when the x factor first started i think more of the acts were from the grass roots of society, especially at the x factor audition stages of the competition.
obviously as the show goes on the acts get molded by the producers, but not from the start, like a lot have already been molded from a talent agency, and this seems to help them get further at times as well, or it sometimes seems that way.
though the way society is, with all the kind of fake looking reality tv shows, it seems x factor is doomed to follow the same type of reality.
just the first few series of x factor seemed a lot more natural, now it all seems to be more manufactured, with a lot more of the acts.
so it is probably impossible for them to make the x factor like it once was and when it first got popular, but that would, be a real shake up if they did.
For some reason yoir post reminded me of this audition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrNbLBS1D2Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I'm certain Cowell was behind the expulsion of Maria Lawson. Knowing how manipulated the show is, there's no way Cowell and the producers would let Louis vote one of the favourites off, supposedly in favour of saving an Irish act.....it was done to generate ratings and controversy.
When he was there, he was the public face of the show. So if something was fixed he was the one that blamed. The comparison I often used is Vince McMahon's role in the (scripted!) WWF in the 90's as a billionaire "Chairman of the Board" (as he really was) manipulating and screwing over the other stars that the public loved (and he often did that in real life too!).
Now it's the shadowy producers in the background. People don't really get as outraged and don't have that thing where they want to support the "underdog" against Simon or see a third rate "credible" singer beat what became the biggest boyband in the world.
I'm not sure this really works - the music industry keeps going every year. It doesn't take a year off. The top 12 isn't that bad this year and could have been even better if they'd made a couple of different decisions at judges houses.
Ultimately Cowell can't control what sells. If he could then he'd be a billionaire. The fact is that the public that vote don't buy the records. Nobody could have made Joe McElderry sell more than Olly Murs or Matt Cardle sell more than One Direction.
Winning can't guarantee that you're any use as a recording artist, that you have any direction or that the best writers and producers want to work with you and give you songs.
You can go all the way back to the first series with this when G4 did far far better than Steve Brookstein.
The point there is not so much about what's selling, because I grant you your point somewhat, but more about perception. The public (in a lots of cases) perceives that the X Factor machine and Simon threw their support behind other acts at the expense of the winners. The public voted for that support to go to the winners. Whether you personally feel it did or not, what matters is what the voters feel. They're switching off and this is a contributory factor I believe.
I think Simon's departure did the most damage. Viewers no longer have their villain.