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If The X Factor gave complete autonomy to contestants - will this lead to it's dowfal |
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#1 |
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If The X Factor gave complete autonomy to contestants - will this lead to it's dowfal
There is an over-riding argument stating the X Factor is about entertainment and that entertainment could be driven by the production's aims to create personalities for the contestants in order to make them more endearing and salient to the audience.
If we threw that out of the window and gave complete autonomy to the contestants by basically allowing them to sing their own songs, speak their own mind, do their own routines and sack Brian and Yvie for their "advice" - will this work? For instance, Brian and Yvie are signed on to give advice and let contestants grow but then we also see Brian after their advice and input say "oh no, I think they're going to blow it this week". Are they really earning their wage if they cock up like this and admit to cocking up? Or let's face facts they are only there as window dressing and nothing more. They are there to give the illusion of the search for an "X Factor" when in fact it's all orchestrated to find somebody who can push revenues higher week on week. So back to the point, after making the above point - can the X Factor, is the X Factor capable of surviving if they threw all this window dressing out of the window and focussed on actual talent? Can the X Factor survive as a serious singing and talent competition and not just as an illusory bit of nonsense that makes us laugh and so forth... well it did until it went all silly this weekend and bit the hand that fed it... ...by that I mean... it bit the very disguise of searching for talent. |
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#2 |
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Quote:
TCan the X Factor survive as a serious singing and talent competition and not just as an illusory bit of nonsense that makes us laugh and so forth...
Nice idea though |
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#3 |
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Dowfal? A fall in the Dow Jones Industrial Average?
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#4 |
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Lordy I remember all the 'serious' talent shows of the 60s and 70s. Contestants got to do what they liked and it was mind-numbingly boring. The x-factor is run by professionals - whether or not you like them they do make a massive difference.
It isn't a talent show, it is a reality show, and that's why it works so well. |
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#5 |
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Quote:
Lordy I remember all the 'serious' talent shows of the 60s and 70s. Contestants got to do what they liked and it was mind-numbingly boring. The x-factor is run by professionals - whether or not you like them they do make a massive difference.
It isn't a talent show, it is a reality show, and that's why it works so well. Maybe people don't like talent and the only thing that gets them to turn on is complete and utter nonsense. Maybe that's why we need professionals - to tell us we like complete and utter nonsense. |
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#6 |
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A wonderful thought, but sadly will likely not happen. It is the very pantomime atmosphere that makes it good Saturday night television. Part of the appeal is in getting to "know" the contestants and following them through the show, cheering and jeering them all along the way. If it was all serious and solely about the music the credibility factor would shoot up as the viewer numbers fell. And as the value to ITV would fall, it would disappear quicker than a cold pint on a hot day.
Nice idea though If we saw the person, under the stress of performing and preparing we would see a different person every week but in order to retain continuity the producers show us the individual or the personality they wish us to see. |
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#7 |
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The problem is twofold, firstly Cowell would never accept anything but unconditional control of every second of broadcast, so it will never happen.
Also it would ruin the secondary aspect of the show, syco/sony promotion. Without theme weeks and the like to promote Simons own acts as they release their next single, or a grand bestest ever even better than the last three greatest ever hits compilation as is hapenning this week, the show loses part of its reason detre. |
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#8 |
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The one thing they cannot do is tread on the Idol format. Simon Cowell was sued by Simon Fuller (who owns the Idol format) when X-Factor started and reached an out of court settlement, part of which is Cowell's continued involvement in American Idol for 5 years following the settlement.
Believe it or not if the contestants had autonomy then we would have train crash TV of the highest order. There's so much that needs to go into the end product on Saturdays, such as clearing song rights, getting arrangements together, and how to perform in front of camera's. They need the professional help. The celebrity mentoring is a bit of a gimmick and is more for the celebrity than the contestant. Very few have really impressed me - Will Young last year and Michael Buble this year probably the only ones. Brian and Yvie give very professional advise and their comments are based on what they have seen in rehersals. I would personally move away from the judges as mentors (once they have chosen the acts) and use a professional musician, the way Sharon had Mark Hudson do most of the work. The judges can then stay impartial and honest - which I believe is the big problem with the format as it stands. If this had been the case I doubt whether Louis would even had considered The Twins. There are plenty of well respected session musicians who could fulfill this role. AND bring back the ITV2 weekday show like they had in Idol and have in Strictly. They were fascinating insights into the contestants as individuals. |
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#9 |
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Quote:
Brian and Yvie give very professional advise and their comments are based on what they have seen in rehersals.
Yvie in my view has made people far worse but besides this, what makes me laugh about these two decorations is they always say "I really think they could blow it this week" - well you're fitting into your pseudo-roles then aren't you! I agree the show could do with some improvements and not insult the intelligence of the public but I guess they are aiming the show at the lowest common denominator - where to some it's serious, the higher you go in the scale, it's a joke to the rest. |
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