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Old 02-11-2010, 19:14
Mr. Fahrenheit
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People say X Factor is killing the industry, that it's making music more 'throwaway'

But what legacy does it possess?

Apart from one particular hit from Leona, will we really remember all that much? What impact has it really had?
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Old 02-11-2010, 19:15
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Old 02-11-2010, 19:18
James__B
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I think Alexandra Burke's career will last much longer than Leona's. Alexandra is much more versatile whereas Leona is really just suited to ballads.
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Old 02-11-2010, 19:34
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It has a knack for getting really old songs in the top 40 again, who would have thought we'd be seeing Shakespeares' Sister again?
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Old 02-11-2010, 19:46
Mr. Fahrenheit
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I think Alexandra Burke's career will last much longer than Leona's. Alexandra is much more versatile whereas Leona is really just suited to ballads.
But will we look back and say;

Yeah, Alexandra, Britney, GaGa, they were the best.

She will hardly be held in the same esteem.
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Old 02-11-2010, 19:56
Scratchy7929
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If X-factor finished tomorrow it will very quickly be forgotten about as soon as a peak time weekend replacement was found to fill the void.Just the same as most of the contestants who appear on it.
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Old 02-11-2010, 20:04
kutox
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It just creates plastic popstars to make Simon rich.

That's why people call it 'glorified karaoke' - Cowell is fooling millions of gullible people into thinking they are looking for a 'superstar', when they are really just looking for someone they can mould into a selling tool, using the show itself as the source of promotion with it's massive viewing figures.

That's pretty much it. But the worrying thing is that it's real legacy might be seen in years time, when all the kids who love it have grown up and just want to be one of those plastic popstars, rather than being in it for the music, because that's what the show is teaching these kids music is all about. It's bad enough as it is now with the amount of wannabes that turn up every year, but X Factor can only make it worse in the long run.
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Old 02-11-2010, 20:20
ags_rule
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It just creates plastic popstars to make Simon rich.

That's why people call it 'glorified karaoke' - Cowell is fooling millions of gullible people into thinking they are looking for a 'superstar', when they are really just looking for someone they can mould into a selling tool, using the show itself as the source of promotion with it's massive viewing figures.

That's pretty much it. But the worrying thing is that it's real legacy might be seen in years time, when all the kids who love it have grown up and just want to be one of those plastic popstars, rather than being in it for the music, because that's what the show is teaching these kids music is all about. It's bad enough as it is now with the amount of wannabes that turn up every year, but X Factor can only make it worse in the long run.
EXCELLENT post. Agree with everything you've said.

And to the early poster, what on earth makes Burke more versatile than Leona?! They've both been marketed differently, that's all. Cowell realised there was no point in having two female winners competing for the same market so rebranded Alex (who was initially going to be a Leona-clone) into an R&B 'artist'.
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Old 02-11-2010, 20:31
TheSlayer10
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I think Alexandra Burke's career will last much longer than Leona's. Alexandra is much more versatile whereas Leona is really just suited to ballads.
True

Alexandra is the ONLY good thing to have emerged from the trash that is X Factor
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Old 02-11-2010, 20:41
Master Ozzy
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And to the early poster, what on earth makes Burke more versatile than Leona?! They've both been marketed differently, that's all. Cowell realised there was no point in having two female winners competing for the same market so rebranded Alex (who was initially going to be a Leona-clone) into an R&B 'artist'.
Have you seen Alex perform? Leona has an amazing voice, but she can't move and has no stage presence. Alex has a good voice and she can sing and dance. She's a lot more versatile than Leona. Leona's voice is incredible, but she's limited to ballads.
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Old 02-11-2010, 20:43
ags_rule
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Maybe Leona doesn't move because she only gets given ballads to sing?

Like I say, she's never been marketed as an uptempo artist like Alex. That doesn't mean she can't do it. Live performances mean nothing to SyCo, it's all about the singles and albums.
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Old 02-11-2010, 20:58
Master Ozzy
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Maybe Leona doesn't move because she only gets given ballads to sing?

Like I say, she's never been marketed as an uptempo artist like Alex. That doesn't mean she can't do it. Live performances mean nothing to SyCo, it's all about the singles and albums.
Alex has never been marketed as a ballad singer though, but look at her performances of ballads on the X Factor and her performances of 'Hallelujah' and 'The Silence'...she can still do them even though she's never been marketed as a ballad singer. With Leona though, the up tempos that she's performed (including those on X Factor) just seem dull and bland. She sings them well, but there's just no stage presence at all. Leona has the voice...but she has no stage presence, she's not interesting, she comes across bland in interviews. She's a nice girl with an amazing voice, but unfortunately these days you need more than that. She's not exciting. She doesn't have the X Factor.
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Old 02-11-2010, 21:03
cnbcwatcher
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It just creates plastic popstars to make Simon rich.

That's why people call it 'glorified karaoke' - Cowell is fooling millions of gullible people into thinking they are looking for a 'superstar', when they are really just looking for someone they can mould into a selling tool, using the show itself as the source of promotion with it's massive viewing figures.

That's pretty much it. But the worrying thing is that it's real legacy might be seen in years time, when all the kids who love it have grown up and just want to be one of those plastic popstars, rather than being in it for the music, because that's what the show is teaching these kids music is all about. It's bad enough as it is now with the amount of wannabes that turn up every year, but X Factor can only make it worse in the long run.
Excellent post, I agree with all of it.
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Old 02-11-2010, 23:34
Cassie..
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Alex has never been marketed as a ballad singer though, but look at her performances of ballads on the X Factor and her performances of 'Hallelujah' and 'The Silence'...she can still do them even though she's never been marketed as a ballad singer. With Leona though, the up tempos that she's performed (including those on X Factor) just seem dull and bland. She sings them well, but there's just no stage presence at all. Leona has the voice...but she has no stage presence, she's not interesting, she comes across bland in interviews. She's a nice girl with an amazing voice, but unfortunately these days you need more than that. She's not exciting. She doesn't have the X Factor.
Totally disagree.

Leona and Alex are just as versataile as each other imo its just took Leona longer to come out of Her shell.
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Old 02-11-2010, 23:57
prasanth
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X Factor's legacy -

- One absolutely brilliant singer who was given songs that don't do anything for her
- One good singer
- One group who have did well for themselves
- Scores of potentially amazing singers who were not put through because they weren't worthy of ITV saturday night television
- One, potentially two, successful christmas number 1 campaigns which proved the power of social networking
- And, PROBABLY part of a generation of children who have a distorted view of music.
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Old 03-11-2010, 00:05
ariella52
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Alex has never been marketed as a ballad singer though, but look at her performances of ballads on the X Factor and her performances of 'Hallelujah' and 'The Silence'...she can still do them even though she's never been marketed as a ballad singer. With Leona though, the up tempos that she's performed (including those on X Factor) just seem dull and bland. She sings them well, but there's just no stage presence at all. Leona has the voice...but she has no stage presence, she's not interesting, she comes across bland in interviews. She's a nice girl with an amazing voice, but unfortunately these days you need more than that. She's not exciting. She doesn't have the X Factor.
You have obviously never seen Leona perform live and seen how the crowd respond to her.

And voices can have the X Factor.
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Old 03-11-2010, 00:21
toanythingtaboo
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The only thing I'm grateful for has been providing a regular large scale platform for guest performances.

We simply didn't get to see 'big names' come over and perform for us much before because we didn't have a show that was big enough for them. Jonathan Ross/Jools was the closest thing since Top of the Pops went down the drain.
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Old 03-11-2010, 01:00
Master Ozzy
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You have obviously never seen Leona perform live and seen how the crowd respond to her.

And voices can have the X Factor.
Funnily enough, a friend of mine had a spare ticket to her concert at the 02 so I have seen her live. The crowd reacted well...as is expected...they're there to see her because they're fans of her. I thought she had an incredible voice, but that's as far as it goes. When she performed up tempos she looked out of her comfort zone.
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Old 03-11-2010, 01:23
Ethereal
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Have you seen Alex perform? Leona has an amazing voice, but she can't move and has no stage presence. Alex has a good voice and she can sing and dance. She's a lot more versatile than Leona. Leona's voice is incredible, but she's limited to ballads.
What nonsense. No stage presence? From her tour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WI_r5TkuZI (especially from around 1:10 to the end)

And from just a few days ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiE94N0P_mA

Leona is just as versatile as Alexandra but hasn't been given as good uptempo songs or the chance to shine until her tour.
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Old 03-11-2010, 02:09
y0david6
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What nonsense. No stage presence? From her tour:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WI_r5TkuZI (especially from around 1:10 to the end)

And from just a few days ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiE94N0P_mA

Leona is just as versatile as Alexandra but hasn't been given as good uptempo songs or the chance to shine until her tour.
exavtly leona is amazing
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Old 03-11-2010, 02:50
omgwtfbbq
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The X Factor's legacy is more likely to be to do with TV. It will always be remembered as great Saturday night television and not so much for music.

Funnily enough, a friend of mine had a spare ticket to her concert at the 02 so I have seen her live. The crowd reacted well...as is expected...they're there to see her because they're fans of her. I thought she had an incredible voice, but that's as far as it goes. When she performed up tempos she looked out of her comfort zone.
I doubt this is actually true, because if you did see her live you wouldn't have said that she can't move, or that she can only sing ballads. And it's not a matter of opinion, because it is a fact that she danced/moved (and impressed almost everyone who saw the show and spoke/wrote about it) and it is a fact that her whole setlist did not consist of ballad after ballad. It's obvious that you don't like Leona, but come on, you can do better than fabricating faults just to have a dig at her. And by the way, stage presence isn't just about doing a few dance moves. If she had no stage presence, she would barely have sold any concert tickets at all, let alone fill up arenas. Most people would've just stayed home and listened to her CD instead if she was nothing more than her voice.
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Old 03-11-2010, 03:40
Carmen Queasy
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What it's highlighted is that music in general is becoming throwaway and the show can be blamed partly for it. The music industry does not invest in many acts if they're not instantly successful. If they flop when they debut on the scene they're put to the back of the queue and dropped with no fighting chance of building up a loyal fan base like acts of the past did.

Furthermore, few are allowed to be "small" acts. Everyone has to be big now.

The X-Factor lot build up a massive fan base in just 10 weeks and have instant success. To me that means many people who buy music (specifically singles) do so for a few superficial listens then probably move on to something else.

Perhaps it's the labels... well, it almost definitely is... but the X-Factor has a lot to answer for simply for embedding this nation of sheeple in solidly.
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Old 03-11-2010, 04:48
mm83
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Alex has never been marketed as a ballad singer though, but look at her performances of ballads on the X Factor and her performances of 'Hallelujah' and 'The Silence'...she can still do them even though she's never been marketed as a ballad singer. With Leona though, the up tempos that she's performed (including those on X Factor) just seem dull and bland. She sings them well, but there's just no stage presence at all. Leona has the voice...but she has no stage presence, she's not interesting, she comes across bland in interviews. She's a nice girl with an amazing voice, but unfortunately these days you need more than that. She's not exciting. She doesn't have the X Factor.
This might come as a surprise to you but I actually agree with a lot of the things you are saying here but I strongly disagree with that last sentence, that Leona apparently doesn't have the x factor. That's nonsense. Then how do you explain her global success with Spirit ? I mean the fact that she connected with an audience world wide and sold her album to millions ?

Leona's problem is hardly the lack of x factor it's the lack of catchy, radio friendly material, and that doesn't mean uptempos, it means the songs you just can't ignore, songs that don't pass you by, songs that have a one, two listen hook, and catchy melodies.

Leona's x factor is (was ?) her voice, that's her selling point. Looking through the eyes of an Alexandra fan your idea of x factor is vaguely different, I'm not surprised by that at all. Alexandra is a typical pop star. Leona isn't. You don't have to be a pop star to do well.

Now what I agree with you on: Stage presence, definitely not the greatest imo, blandness in interviews - she simply isn't engaging and open enough in her interviews. She also definitely doesn't excel at uptempos. However, versitility is hardly the name of the game, quality singles regardless of the tempo are.

Now let me ask you this, if Alexandra is this super exciting and versatile artist, with this great personality and "x factor" then why isn't she having any significant success outside of UK and Ireland ? She has current, radio friendly material but yet isn't able to spark much interest ? why ?
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Old 03-11-2010, 07:22
mushymanrob
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If X-factor finished tomorrow it will very quickly be forgotten about as soon as a peak time weekend replacement was found to fill the void.Just the same as most of the contestants who appear on it.
agreed...

What it's highlighted is that music in general is becoming throwaway and the show can be blamed partly for it. .
theres always been disposable pop, even in the hallowed 60's , then watermans lot took it to a whole new level in the late 80's. tbh at least txf looks for people who can sing properly, unlike many of the manufactured products over the last 20+ years.
(im not sticking up for txf, just being realistic)
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Old 03-11-2010, 08:19
ShadowRider213
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theres always been disposable pop, even in the hallowed 60's , then watermans lot took it to a whole new level in the late 80's. tbh at least txf looks for people who can sing properly, unlike many of the manufactured products over the last 20+ years.
(im not sticking up for txf, just being realistic)
But then of course, the people that X Factor picks are given cheap songs to sing. They're not looking for good singers, they're making money off them.
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