...if they choose unsuitable and sh*te songs for people to sing.
Simon says don't blame the producers...
How can Simon make that comment regarding the producers when he KNOWS that they have the final word about the songs used. I know this for a fact because here in Germany we had a reality show and a friend of mine's boy entered with a certain song but was forced to sing something completely different for the TV show or told he would not appear. The same thing happens on Britain's Got Talent and SIMON KNOWS THIS FACT TO BE TRUE°°°°°!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why the porkies????
How can he say it when one contestent was told by simon he made a mistake by singing, or wrong song, also he not get through to this, and it was the producer who told him to sing despite his act wasnt a singing act.
It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.
The way it works in his brain is that the song is a good song / Therefore you can't blame the producers or anyone other than yourself if it goes wrong.
However, there are some major faults with that way of thinking: People should be able to chose their own songs and there should be no interference from the producers. Secondly, not every song suits everyone, so the fact that a song is a good song/popular/massive hit, is meaningless if it doesn't suit you! - All singers learn what songs suit them or not.
So if the producers pick the wrong song, they are always open to questions of manipulation and should not be doing it.
But then full control and manipulation is exactly what they demand. You are just not meant to mention it and make the audience think it all works in another way. (Called "dual reality": One group thinks one thing is going on whilst in fact something else is really going on)
The show uses this from the start to the finish. Shot of 10,000 people turning up at the audition venue, cut to the judges viewing acts; result, it is made to look like the judges do sit there and see everyone who turns up and everyone gets a stab in front of them. Reality is that producers watch all of them and put through a tiny amount of them to see the judges.
However, there are some major faults with that way of thinking: People should be able to chose their own songs and there should be no interference from the producers. Secondly, not every song suits everyone, so the fact that a song is a good song/popular/massive hit, is meaningless if it doesn't suit you! - All singers learn what songs suit them or not.
So if the producers pick the wrong song, they are always open to questions of manipulation and should not be doing it.
But then full control and manipulation is exactly what they demand. You are just not meant to mention it and make the audience think it all works in another way. (Called "dual reality": One group thinks one thing is going on whilst in fact something else is really going on)
The show uses this from the start to the finish. Shot of 10,000 people turning up at the audition venue, cut to the judges viewing acts; result, it is made to look like the judges do sit there and see everyone who turns up and everyone gets a stab in front of them. Reality is that producers watch all of them and put through a tiny amount of them to see the judges.
Originally Posted by satellite:
“It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
“It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
There again it's being clever with the truth:
"Why did you choose that song?" - can still be used if they were only given a list of two very unsuitable songs.
It's TV land control and making it look like something else.
We should have more people say live "Well the few songs you gave me to pick from where all unsuitable and when I asked to do a song I wanted, your producers said no!"
They intentionally give bad songs to acts they don't want to go through and then give the "bad song choice" criticism. Most people are too intimidated to say anything and go along with it but go on the dad yesterday for calling them out on it. Saying that I thought they were awful in their first audition.
Simon has a history of doing this with acts in all of his shows. I remember Daniel DeBourg on the XF said that on movie night, he was supposed to sing "When Doves Cry" and had rehearsed the song all week. Then on Friday he was told to change the song to "Build Me Buttercup." Unsurprisingly he went home that week.
Simon has a history of doing this with acts in all of his shows. I remember Daniel DeBourg on the XF said that on movie night, he was supposed to sing "When Doves Cry" and had rehearsed the song all week. Then on Friday he was told to change the song to "Build Me Buttercup." Unsurprisingly he went home that week.
Originally Posted by satellite:
“It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
“It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
The songs lists for American Idol generally go public and the choice is vast - usually around 50 or so songs for each theme (obviously it might be less if its an artist themed week and their reportoire isnt huge
) - but for general themed weeks, there is a pretty broad "pick list". Its not an "industry secret" that contestants have to choose certain songs. In fact when I was the XF auditions last year, several contestants spoke to Simon quite openly about their "given" songs and "last minute song changes". He was quite happy about it (although granted those bits were never likely to make it to air
) - but my point is, its all part and parcel of these shows. You are a cog in the machine and the producers want what they think will be best for the show as a whole - they are rarely concerned with the individual. Thats the price you pay - is the massive exposure the acts gain worth it against the fact they have to conform to choices they might not be happy with? Im most cases, it certainly is, because it will their ONLY opportunity to perform to an audience of 12 million and not 200 pissed chavs at Butlins (or worse).
It wouldnt have mattered what the producers gave them to sing, they were lame singers to start with, especially the father. All the song choice did was show how bad they really were.
Originally Posted by satellite:
“It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
“It's the same with American Idol and X-Factor. I've heard more than once the contestants have a list of songs to choose from, and not an extensive one at that....it's not as if they can sing 'any' old song they like, and after they perform, the judges always say, I can't believe you chose that song....knowing full well the list came from the Production Team in the first place????
Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
No strictly true, they are given a list, but they can go 'off list' if clearance can be obtained in time
The singing plumber had an issue with it a couple of years back as well. They brought it up again on Britain's Got More Talent and found that he had given a list of songs to the producers ahead of the finals and the producers picked from them.
What this guy said was that he picked a song in consultation with the producers rather than them picking it for them. He was actually less upset about it than the plumber man a few years back.
Inevitably Cowell defends his staff there though I'm not sure there was any need here. It's not like anything else about the performance went well either and he didn't seem to be pinning all the blame on them anyway (the plumber did).
There's never complete freedom, producers on these shows aren't known for being particularly accomodating, especially not when they've got 50 in one week. Even on Idol when they did Elvis week this year, the contestants said they didn't have a particularly huge list despite the fact that CKX (which owns Idol) owns 80% of the Elvis estate and organised the whole week as a plug for their new Vegas show (often, seeing as they're making a TV show, they want to stick to well known hits).
Not all "off list" requests can be accomodated (and perhaps producers don't always exert themselves in making it possible!). And if you're 12th to pick then you're screwed anyway! In the genre themes, producers have changed their minds at times and decided some songs aren't in keeping with the theme (Taylor Hicks had an issue there). On X Factor they actually use disputes between the contestants and their mentors over song choice as key part of each series to create drama (Danyl & Simon last year, Rachel Hylton & Dannii the year before). Though I doubt the mentors have total freedom in picking songs for their acts anyway!
What this guy said was that he picked a song in consultation with the producers rather than them picking it for them. He was actually less upset about it than the plumber man a few years back.
Inevitably Cowell defends his staff there though I'm not sure there was any need here. It's not like anything else about the performance went well either and he didn't seem to be pinning all the blame on them anyway (the plumber did).
There's never complete freedom, producers on these shows aren't known for being particularly accomodating, especially not when they've got 50 in one week. Even on Idol when they did Elvis week this year, the contestants said they didn't have a particularly huge list despite the fact that CKX (which owns Idol) owns 80% of the Elvis estate and organised the whole week as a plug for their new Vegas show (often, seeing as they're making a TV show, they want to stick to well known hits).
Not all "off list" requests can be accomodated (and perhaps producers don't always exert themselves in making it possible!). And if you're 12th to pick then you're screwed anyway! In the genre themes, producers have changed their minds at times and decided some songs aren't in keeping with the theme (Taylor Hicks had an issue there). On X Factor they actually use disputes between the contestants and their mentors over song choice as key part of each series to create drama (Danyl & Simon last year, Rachel Hylton & Dannii the year before). Though I doubt the mentors have total freedom in picking songs for their acts anyway!
Originally Posted by satellite:
“Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
“Saying that, the Father and Son duo were truly awful anyway, I can't imagine the choice of song would have really mattered.”
Originally Posted by Pyramid*:
“It wouldnt have mattered what the producers gave them to sing, they were lame singers to start with, especially the father. All the song choice did was show how bad they really were.”
“It wouldnt have mattered what the producers gave them to sing, they were lame singers to start with, especially the father. All the song choice did was show how bad they really were.”
They were atrocious - but the comments on the live thread about them last night were incredibly funny.
"Are they really father and son or does he just like to be called Daddy?"
