I've been looking through what people have been suggesting as improvements for next years series and because i work for an emerging and soon to be, brand new News & Entertainment website, and have close ties with Thames TV, my friend decided to contact the producer. In an exchange of messages between us and him i shared some ideas i have been seeing from fans for the upcoming series. Here's how it went by.
(It's quite long, sorry)
US: Hey, I've realised you're returning to The X Factor, and we all know the show isn't doing so well recently so I thought I'd try and contact someone who may possibly listen to the fans. So here's a couple of ideas/ and some fan advise on how to make it better.
1. Get good judges. Thank god Nick has gone. Now for Cheryl, she has outdone her time and brings nothing new to the show. Rita, I don't mind her, but again, she doesn't seem to have much of a personality. We want fun judges, aka Louis & Sharon. Someone who has experience and can actually give advise would be cool.
3. Find an audience! The show used to be aimed at adult and family audiences, but in recent years it's been going for Teen viewers. Bad decision, teenagers are out, they don't care about missing the show, you need to start appealing to adults again, as more importantly they're in control of the remote in a typical household!
4. Not really important but change the design side of it. The red & gold look was awful. Red is awful and I'm sure it's been proven to make people more angry. X Factor is already frustrating to many. Bring back the blue. Another idea would be to bring the guitar theme. Seems less tampered and edited with.
5. Bring back the weird factor. We want fun auditions, we want controversy, but not too much of it. I'm sure you can find some 'unique' people.
6. Bring back Sob stories. Last year was a bit boring. It was just all, talent. We want a mix of emotions when watching this show.
7. the only thing I enjoyed about last years show was its boot camp stage. In the country. It very much seemed like a breath of fresh air. The first stage was cool, the 2nd stage seemed abut pointless when they sang in solo's but I definitely recommend bringing this stage back.
8. Six Chair Challenge. Not everyone likes it as it gives the show a more brutal look. But if made a bit more kinder than it will appeal to most. It's so obvious the first ones are going to go and the last ones are going to wow. They was so many good singers that were wrongly dumped at this stage.
9. Judges house. It's a shame you didn't do the original idea of it being live from around the world because it could have worked. But the studio version was car crash TV, don't bring it back, please. If anything bring back the original Judges Houses or a complete new stage could be good. But I can see why you won't want more change.
10. Live shows need a massive revamp, they're very boring and seem to last forever. Bring back weekly mentors or a fifth judge. Bring back the theme weeks but let the public still chose the songs (via the app). Also make sure you have at least one comedy act it really makes it watchable.
Promo: one were all 4 judges are walking down a corridor and fire comes out, makes the show look more exciting and epic. Obviously you'll need one or two others along with this.
FIRST EPISODE: Big intros of the show and the judges, which we didn't get last year. Giving a glimpse on what the whole series will possibly be like. Make sure we see a decent amount of talent like last year but combined with the energy of the 2013/2010 series.
Hopefully that kind of helped.
Oh and also Some quick judge ideas:
-Sharon
-Louis Walsh
-Nicole
-Dannii Minogue
i recommend avoiding new judges. Too risky, and the fans are bored of constant change.
MARK:
Thanks for taking the time to write this. Many of your thoughts are in tune with mine so think you'll enjoy the series.
These Messages were April 3rd, and it's very interesting to see that he agree's with most of the comments.
(It's quite long, sorry)
US: Hey, I've realised you're returning to The X Factor, and we all know the show isn't doing so well recently so I thought I'd try and contact someone who may possibly listen to the fans. So here's a couple of ideas/ and some fan advise on how to make it better.
1. Get good judges. Thank god Nick has gone. Now for Cheryl, she has outdone her time and brings nothing new to the show. Rita, I don't mind her, but again, she doesn't seem to have much of a personality. We want fun judges, aka Louis & Sharon. Someone who has experience and can actually give advise would be cool.
3. Find an audience! The show used to be aimed at adult and family audiences, but in recent years it's been going for Teen viewers. Bad decision, teenagers are out, they don't care about missing the show, you need to start appealing to adults again, as more importantly they're in control of the remote in a typical household!
4. Not really important but change the design side of it. The red & gold look was awful. Red is awful and I'm sure it's been proven to make people more angry. X Factor is already frustrating to many. Bring back the blue. Another idea would be to bring the guitar theme. Seems less tampered and edited with.
5. Bring back the weird factor. We want fun auditions, we want controversy, but not too much of it. I'm sure you can find some 'unique' people.
6. Bring back Sob stories. Last year was a bit boring. It was just all, talent. We want a mix of emotions when watching this show.
7. the only thing I enjoyed about last years show was its boot camp stage. In the country. It very much seemed like a breath of fresh air. The first stage was cool, the 2nd stage seemed abut pointless when they sang in solo's but I definitely recommend bringing this stage back.
8. Six Chair Challenge. Not everyone likes it as it gives the show a more brutal look. But if made a bit more kinder than it will appeal to most. It's so obvious the first ones are going to go and the last ones are going to wow. They was so many good singers that were wrongly dumped at this stage.
9. Judges house. It's a shame you didn't do the original idea of it being live from around the world because it could have worked. But the studio version was car crash TV, don't bring it back, please. If anything bring back the original Judges Houses or a complete new stage could be good. But I can see why you won't want more change.
10. Live shows need a massive revamp, they're very boring and seem to last forever. Bring back weekly mentors or a fifth judge. Bring back the theme weeks but let the public still chose the songs (via the app). Also make sure you have at least one comedy act it really makes it watchable.
Promo: one were all 4 judges are walking down a corridor and fire comes out, makes the show look more exciting and epic. Obviously you'll need one or two others along with this.
FIRST EPISODE: Big intros of the show and the judges, which we didn't get last year. Giving a glimpse on what the whole series will possibly be like. Make sure we see a decent amount of talent like last year but combined with the energy of the 2013/2010 series.
Hopefully that kind of helped.
Oh and also Some quick judge ideas:
-Sharon
-Louis Walsh
-Nicole
-Dannii Minogue
i recommend avoiding new judges. Too risky, and the fans are bored of constant change.
MARK:
Thanks for taking the time to write this. Many of your thoughts are in tune with mine so think you'll enjoy the series.
These Messages were April 3rd, and it's very interesting to see that he agree's with most of the comments.
