I was watching the morning show on BBC 2, and the girl said it would be their last ever time in the Academy, and then Jake said "Well, we might be back next year". She seemed far more confident

Short answer is no.

I don't think the BBC will do this show again .....

Re the popularity of the live streaming for this series - don't forget how much the number of people with interactive TV through freeview has rocketed since the first one - Many more have beeen able to watch what is to me the most interesting part, as well as the extra BBC 3 shows. I think this must have had a great deal to do with the increased popularity of the whole concept.

Although it could be more to do with it featuring celebrities, being stripped across the schedule in peak time and getting large lead ins from Eastenders.

I really liked FA series 1, and Comic Relief Does Fame Academy (Series 1+2).

FA2 was poor in my opinion. Shepperton had been dropped and replaced with a hallway in the FA and they actually took money when you sent a text vote (before it was at standard rates). It seemed like it had been turned into a cash cow instead of a show about talent like Series 1.

I think the format could be changed from "knockout" to a league table. We could still vote, but it would be to give points. You still get a winner, but you also get to see the development of all the other students as they perform week in week out and provide an incentive for them to work hard to improve. We saw hardly anything of the students who were slow starters and got voted off first -who knows what they could have achieved with more time.
If there are time constraints - start with fewer students.

I felt that in FA2 the students were left with a lot of free time but with nothing to do in it. They were all totally bored. I don't see why they couldn't have some entertainment provided, even if that is restricted to set times.

From what I saw of the live streaming, only Paris, James, Alistair and Barry spent much of that free time singing - one of the best examples would be the "love hour" when James played the piano and he and Alistair sang together one evening when some of the other students were out. There should be more emphasis on musical skills training - not just the occasional look at Alex or Peter strumming a guitar. Let's see if any of the students can develop musically as well as vocally.

I also don't see why they had to be kept short on food - lots of the students lost weight. Even those who really didn't need to!!

Drop Kevin's dance class in the morning, and fill them with booze each night. If they've got the musicieans spirit, they'll be great fun to watch.

Carrie and David were always telling the students NOT to sing as their voices were tired anyway. Interestingly the 4 you mention were the four who did have time on their hands - they were the ones who didn't go out on visits, didn't do as many duets or group songs as Alex or Carolynne and didn't record much in the studio. The line was "how come you have recorded 4 songs already and they havn't asked me to do one?" Three of those people left before the work load went up to fill the time too. Actually all of the last 4 students were worked too hard on the show and their voices couldn't have stretched much more.

Let's face it, FA2 was a failed experiment. Start afresh from the FA1 principles, and see how we can improve from there.

Let's see: Songwriting - more emphasis and better teacher.
Voice Training: Let's ensure David and Carrie stay, but as with this CRDFA don't compromise them by making them judges.
Provide instruments and encourage the students to play and enjoy - with Carrie & David to watch over the voices.
Bring back Jo Noel!!! I missed her this time around.
Don't play stupid, unnecessary mind games on the students - which probably means Jeremy gets the boot.

I know you'll have more, better and probably contradictory ideas!

Steve.

I think we'll see more Comic Relief celeb versions, but thats it. Which tbh is fine by me.

No, it hasn't done enough to save the format. They've shown they can't even be relied on to organise a proper final and don't realise that the voting has to be fair and be seen to be fair.

I agree.

They are by far the most entertaining.

Here's hoping for another series of FA if not on the Beeb then CH3, 4, or 5.

If the BBC do run FA3 PLEASE let them air highlight shows. I think, this is imperative to allow viewers to really get to know the students and enjoy watching their progression. This I feel would inevitably achieve a bigger audience and voting for the main show each week.

I didn't have Digital TV for series one and felt the two highlight shows each week were not enough. I was always left wanting more and relied on the internet for my info. on how the students were getting on. Therefore, I can really understand why FA2 was not a great success as there were no highlights shown at all during the week! Thankfully, I did have digital and was hooked on the live stream.

I find it amazing and consider it very sad that what I consider to be a knockout format might not return!

Regarding Comic Relief does FA, I am just assuming this will return given the success of the series? If it does, please let's have the final on the night before red nose day!!! I believe this was a missed opportunity AGAIN (I felt the same last series) I'm sure it would have attracted a huge number of votes for the charity and feel it deserved a show dedicated to the final only. There is surely no reason why they couldn't do this? They could all still turn up at TV Centre on the night to do a performance and play drunken karaoke!

Another idea would be to air the final the night before RND and allow the voting lines to remain open until 7pm on the Friday night. Then announce the winner during the show.

Here's hoping for what should be a winning formula, FA, to return SOON!

Exactly have the final on the Thursday night and in the academy! keep the normal voting lines open & have a proper final after 10 days of competition.

Have the winner sing on Red Nose Night & the FA karaoke with the rest of the students at peak time!

Fingers crossed for FA3!

Tez

The Comic Relief version won't return because it's not on for another 2 years. If FA has finished then by that time something will have come along to replace it that they'll do another celeb spin off of.

I think it will due to the success of this series.

The anti-FA logic is more thin the more you look at it.

The root of the argument is the politics and flows from the licence fee being compulsory and pressure from the networks that don't get the licence. this leads to the equation that the BBC has public money therefore it has to do what other broadcasters wouldn't do and generally provide quality TV whilst supporting wider educational and cultural objectives..

The argument though ends in a complete dead end. It ultimately means the BBC should make licence payers watch programmes that are good for them because they have merits other commercial channels don't make money from. Follow that logic through and no entertainment programmes would appear at all as everything exists somewhere else. Nanny state gone mad would be too obvious if you did this so the idea of "quality" programmes is introduced to allow other output. Quality though is subjective, so another criteria arrives in the form of "unique" . You end up with unique, worthy programmes and a big problem because unique doesn't mean good and worthy often means unwanted.

Programmes that no one else will make are either not made because no one wants to watch them or they are two expensive or the BBC is just better at doing them. Making programmes that no one will want to watch just turns the few moaners who want not to pay the licence into a majority who now get nothing for their money. Making expensive programmes that no one else can ends in the same public reaction if they do not command ratings. Making better programmes is fine but how can you define better.

FA falls falls at the "unique" point. it passes the ratings test - or would if it still mattered if anyone wanted to watch. It passes the cultural and educational test - particularly if you throw in some more coverage of lessons and add a bit more musical knowledge. It has a charity link which logically puts it on the same basis as CFA - which throws up the illogic that celebrities having fun is worthy and people learning their trade is somehow not. David even runs a course in self- motivation in the background. iIs only problems are that it has a reality Tv element - which you could pull out onto BBC3/CBBC more except where it impacts on performances - and it looks to some like Pop Idol.

Thats where the argument is won or lost. The argument is nonsense as Eastender's is far more closely related to Corrie and Holby City is the heir of countless ITV hospital drama and they are not threatened. Even if Pop Idol came first ,which posters tell us is untrue, how far do you want to go back - the papers today tell us Dave Allen appeared on New Faces in 1959 - what do you think happened on New Faces or Opportunity Knocks - singers being judged and voted for? What does "new" mean? Unique becomes meaningless too when it becomes related just to history - Come Dancing being a BBC show doesn't mean that its spin off should be regarded as a novel idea because the BBC just happened to do the original.. If ITV can do Strictly Celebrity Wrestling they could just as well do Strictly Come Dancing its vertical equivalent. The argument that Dr Who is new and unique and FA is derivative is just plainly absurd - watch Sky.

The fact that its nonsense though hasn't stopped the Pop Idol = FA argument being made. The problem is the simple equation doesn't go away. It isn't true - if anything Pop Idol is FA lite minus anything educational. PI is the successor of the talent competitions of 1950-2000. FA is wider in scope and actually has the right title because it shows the process and drama of learning but the wrong tlitle because it suggests fame is the goal.

The only answers are is to either be brave and go ahead and make FA pointing out that the BBC is meeting its remit for culture and that it is different and that it is a better quality show and, if necessary, to make the difference more obvious by changing the format to make it defensible or to bin the idea and do something else not as good. Personally I would put Panorama on in the peak saturday slot and explain that the government required this when 10 million people complained.

You wonder why they made CFA so well (minus the final which should have been on saturday or Thursday. Was it a test run to get it right for the future. a two finger salute to those attacking a great show or an advert for someone else wanting to steal ITV and BBC audiences?

Once everything about the BBC charter and licence fee is settled, beyond the possibility of the Tories wrecking it when they take power in May , we may find that the BBC doesn't change as much as people now expect.

Veri exactly!!!

Until then the BBC will produce 'Original Programming' such as 'Strictly Dance Fever' starring a certain Mr.Norton.

So they'd comission that and not a new series of Fame Academy!

But Edith is saying today in the Sunday Mail

'Colin and I once went to a karaoke competition and he won. So maybe he should be in Fame Academy next.'

Keep those fingers crossed for FA3!

Tez

Ps If i see that trailer for 'Casanova' once more i'll scream!

Well I just read the 'Park Slates "Fame Academy" Co-stars' article, and it hints that there will be a third series:

these new rules seem pretty stupid, surely the purpose of the bbc is to give there viewers (they people who pay for the channel) what they wish to see. If Fame Academy is pulling in 8million people a night then its clear thats what the viewers are wanting to watch.

I see there point about copycat shows but surely its unfair to tell the bbc to stop getting themselves shows people actually watch. So Eastenders is a soap that was created to rival coronation street in the ratings, when does that get axed.

i've thought similar in the past as well - you could just do away with the voting off entirely.

just have a bunch of people in the academy learning and developing their craft - which is the most interesting, even if not the most ratings winning thing.

and if it ain't about ratings anymore, the why not?

i'd be really surprised if they did another series - but i think its a shame, as i'm sure there's enough potential and mileage in it to do something.

Iain