God knows why, at least with The X Factor you have a chance of a record deal even if you don't win. With The Voice you're just going to fade into obscurity even if you win.

Totally agree with you.

[quote=Puterkid;79452687]The producers miss the point. The excitement of the show is to audition 'nobodies', spot the potential and find an actual star. That's what caught the public imagination when Pop Idol 1 was running all those years ago. The show grew and grew because the contestants genuinely applied, queued up, had auditions, got selected down to the final 50 by the public etc. People felt properly invested in the outcome. I heard an interview with Will Young recently when he said that prior to Pop Idol, he had never sung with a microphone! At least The Voice is open about it's scouting for talent.[/QUOT
Agree.The programme has now totally lost the plot and the over the top auditions of acts like the one's singing Uptown Funk with a big screen introducing them and then dancers appearing mid song, totally over the top and obviously well rehearsed beforehand, then the false jaw dropping from the judges all adds up to a total mess and is fooling no one, i used to enjoy Pop Idol and the more sincere comments from Pete Waterman but now it's all fake.Also with 4th Power it was made to look like it was their first audition but as there are several auditions before they see the judges would mean they either had to travel a few times to Britain beforehand or as a scouted act they by-passed the early auditions.

Bits from backstage:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s103/...pn4pV1CCOG2PSP


This isn't anything new. The Conway sisters had had hits in Ireland before trying for X Factor. I seem to remember they first met Louis at the wedding of one of Westlife

Tbh personally, I don't really care about their back story if they've done anything professional in the past however big or small, once in the show if I find them good I'll follow them throughout their time on the show and once it's over if they bring out some music I like that's just a bonus

As for the show not saying anything about acts who have professional experience, scouted or whatever, that really doesn't bother me either

Let's not forget Paul Potts on BGT. He turned up at his first audition wearing a cheap suit from Primark and was described as a salesman at Carphone Warehouse. Turns out he was classically trained and had spent a year in Milan following his dream.

I'm not blaming Potts at all. I bet he would have wanted to audition in a tuxedo but the producers insisted he dress down for the evening and make it look like he was a bloke who had wandered in off the street.

Perhaps you should research more. Paul spent only a few months in Italy, in the coastal town of Rimini, not a year in Milan. He bought the suit in Tesco not Primark. What evidence do you have that the producers insist he dress down? Looks like a potentially libellous statement that both the producers and Paul could take note of. A lesson every so often when he could afford it does not mean classically trained.

Do you think any of the current finalists weren't scouted - for me Lauren seems the most likely

If the show really consisted of rank amateurs it would be unwatchable. Really talented "hairbrush singers" are few and far between.

People who wake up one morning and decide they'd like to "be a singer" are chasing fame. You want folks who have at least taken some steps towards a career in music, even if it's just local gigs or joining a choir.

I think there is a big difference between someone who has been gigging their local pubs and so on for a while in their spare time and someone like 4th impact, who are an established professional group that have been around for years.

I don't have a problem with going down the route of giving a chance to struggling professionals like those 4 girls, but I do think they should be honest about it rather than pretend they are some people who walked in off the street.

Have you watched their Audition video? I'm not sure which part of them not being honest are you referring to.

Fakest program on TV. Just a bunch of lazy, backward looking record company A&R men if you ask me. The Cowell is right at home.

I agree totally, this show would be very boring if people really did walk off the street that's when no one would watch it, you know you wouldn't hear the contestant moaning if they were in the chosen few would you, they have to do the show in the format they use really as its an entertainment show

Personally I have never heard or read once that 4th impact walked off the street, where did you get that from? I have said it before and I will say it again, if I had a prime time tv talent show then I would 100% get my researchers to scroll through utube most definately, and invite them, most would never enter the show if not invited because it gives them a bit of hope to maybe get far in the competition if they have been scouted, I am sure lots refuse too at the same time. There's been quite a few contestants in the past who mention they have failed record deals, have you any idea how hard it is to get into the music business on your own and get noticed? It is ridiculously hard, so therefore a lot enter to get a bit of a platform and try their luck as it could be their only chance

I think some of you have a point though - Simon Cowell being Mr Nasty for a few years was good to watch, but it really might have put people off the street off from applying.

Having said that I'm sure a lot of us know a lad or lass who can sing or play a few tunes. Real people going on would not make the show boring as some of you are suggesting. Not everyone 'real' is a terrible singer or musician - and its not meant to be about how good they are at the start, at the auditions, anyway.

The whole point of these shows was meant to be about the process. Watching people who were initially quite good get the makeover and the fancy clothes and production behind them and become tv stars or even susperstars.

The whole auditioning them in front of an audience destroys that element of it. It defeats the big payoff and the audience's attention and investing in these people in favour of a quick 'wow' or a quick laugh. Where can they go from getting a standing ovation from an audience in their casual clothes singing acapella? The live shows become like a kind of holiday, living the life, then, rather than another step in the process to becoming something special.

Having them already be something special at the audition stage kills that.

What a great post! Exactly how I feel. It's daft to suggest that there are no decent singers knocking around who are complete amateurs. You're telling me that out of 65 million population, we can't find a handful of singers who might just have the potential (and that is the key word, "potential") to be stars?

Too many viewers seem to be expecting these, often very young, individuals to be the finished article from the get go. Some of the comments about Louisa this year on this forum have been astonishing - a total lack of ability to see raw talent and potential. They won't be the finished article if they genuinely don't perform for a living or even in their spare time down the pub. For me though, that's part of their charm and is why I feel so many acts are ruined from a decent start at auditions, once they get to the live shows and the producers and judges go OTT on them.