Ok I confess, I watch the X Factor, not avidly nor do I worry if I miss the programme but I watch it if I'm at home on a Saturday. The show I feel is pretty irreverent about music and has always been irreverent in the way it portrays people. I'm guilty as charged for laughing at the misguided souls trying to impress. Of all the thousands auditioning the ones deemed to have genuine talent progress and so the process goes on. I guess with most it's just a punt at making the showbiz life and there's nothing wrong in that. Others have been told they can sing by friends (who lied) and have wholly bought into it. A minority have unashamed arrogance in their capabilities or lack of them and some to be blunt are just plainly deluded, there's no easy way of saying it.
There's many different tiers of talent on the show from the raw yet to be moulded talent, the entertaining pub/club types that can belt out a half decent tune, the unusual or bizarre and as I have mentioned the above the wishful thinking or deluded types. One last type remain though and that's the vulnerable, the sort the show will shameless showcase for the entertainment of the rabid British tv viewing proletariats. The nation must echo with laughter as we watch couples such as the Sinclairs or individuals like Ceri Rees attempt to sing and fail dismally.
Let's be honest here though, such people however nice clearly aren't as intelligent or astute as the majority, I think there's a line between delusional and perhaps not the sharpest tool in the toolbox to coin a phrase. That is in no way intended as disrespectful, the flat fact here is that some of us are more intelligent and perceptive than others in society and that's how it will probably always be, the intelligent and the not so.
What angers me about the show is that they know this too yet the sensationalist producers will still lead the vulnerable lambs out to the slaughter because it's good for ratings, like jesters of old they entertain the kings of the living room armchair thrones and its all very sad if you ask me. I've got to the point where laughter now eludes me, I just shake my head in pity and question why the producers of the program would (a) readily make fools of people knowing they have no musical ability (b) air something that doesn't have the alleged X factor or is remotely musical and (c) create a cause and lasting effect scenario for unfortunate people.
Now you could argue that regardless of any intelligence, ability or skill you have a right to audition and in essence I concur however I do think there is a small percentage as recently demonstrated that could be clearly regarding as vulnerable in some respects. According to reports the Welsh woman Ceri Rees shown on the last audition show has been in tears ever since and the producers were contacted by a singing teacher who had befriended her and pleaded with them not to show the footage. If Ceri Rees had failed four times to progress in the show why build her up again only to destroy her hopes and dreams all over again? It's even disconcerting for die hard fans of the show. As for the Sinclairs, they seemed a lovely couple who probably now will receive ridicule and humiliation in the high street resulting from their footage. Unless the show vets people better before allowing them a very public demise on stage I suspect one day it may end in tears with something very real happening on a reality show that really isn't very nice at all.
Usually mature adults in this country make allowances for people who perhaps aren't the brightest or who may have mental health issues and morally look out for them in many respects so that they retain their dignity, yet a national family show has no such disposition or concern. The irony is that a contestant before who did have mental health issues was pulled from the show after progressing which can only have been a massive blow to the persons morale. People with low intelligence or indeed mental health suffer enough as it is in society without national media portraying them as buffoons. I'm not saying those people can't be gifted in many ways because they can but the reality often is that they don't see things as we do and that's the simple fact of it, if they were to progress the trappings of fame and publicity would only end up confusing them more and doing real psychological damage.
In closing I think the X factor needs to concentrate more on the potential talent than highlighting no talent at all. Everyone deserves the right to apply but everyone needs to be treated with respect and moral understanding of the implications of being on the show. I don't like what Simon Cowell stands for basically, the X Factor is all about finding potential talent for financial gain, the contestants also gain short term but when they fall out of the brief attention span of the public they are released from (as I understand) a very stringent contract and then who knows what will become of them, remember Steve Brookstein? In March 2010 Mr Brookstein was performing in a pub in Cornwall where punters paid £2.50p to hear him sing, if you bought a pie and a pint that was then waived, his two albums were on sale for £3 each. Despite his 5 minutes of fame he's a very bitter man.
Musically the X Factor has and never will give us anything other than commercial produced pulp pop tunes where the contestants are propelled to fame without any real maturing. There's lots of genuine talent out there in this country, the sensible ones probably opt not to appear on the X Factor because they have a love for 'real' music. We may live in an age in where things move a little faster and singers or bands become popular overnight due to the media unlike the greats who have had to perform long and hard over the years to gain recognition and deserved fame but like a wine or cheese that matures over time - they're always better.
There's many different tiers of talent on the show from the raw yet to be moulded talent, the entertaining pub/club types that can belt out a half decent tune, the unusual or bizarre and as I have mentioned the above the wishful thinking or deluded types. One last type remain though and that's the vulnerable, the sort the show will shameless showcase for the entertainment of the rabid British tv viewing proletariats. The nation must echo with laughter as we watch couples such as the Sinclairs or individuals like Ceri Rees attempt to sing and fail dismally.
Let's be honest here though, such people however nice clearly aren't as intelligent or astute as the majority, I think there's a line between delusional and perhaps not the sharpest tool in the toolbox to coin a phrase. That is in no way intended as disrespectful, the flat fact here is that some of us are more intelligent and perceptive than others in society and that's how it will probably always be, the intelligent and the not so.
What angers me about the show is that they know this too yet the sensationalist producers will still lead the vulnerable lambs out to the slaughter because it's good for ratings, like jesters of old they entertain the kings of the living room armchair thrones and its all very sad if you ask me. I've got to the point where laughter now eludes me, I just shake my head in pity and question why the producers of the program would (a) readily make fools of people knowing they have no musical ability (b) air something that doesn't have the alleged X factor or is remotely musical and (c) create a cause and lasting effect scenario for unfortunate people.
Now you could argue that regardless of any intelligence, ability or skill you have a right to audition and in essence I concur however I do think there is a small percentage as recently demonstrated that could be clearly regarding as vulnerable in some respects. According to reports the Welsh woman Ceri Rees shown on the last audition show has been in tears ever since and the producers were contacted by a singing teacher who had befriended her and pleaded with them not to show the footage. If Ceri Rees had failed four times to progress in the show why build her up again only to destroy her hopes and dreams all over again? It's even disconcerting for die hard fans of the show. As for the Sinclairs, they seemed a lovely couple who probably now will receive ridicule and humiliation in the high street resulting from their footage. Unless the show vets people better before allowing them a very public demise on stage I suspect one day it may end in tears with something very real happening on a reality show that really isn't very nice at all.
Usually mature adults in this country make allowances for people who perhaps aren't the brightest or who may have mental health issues and morally look out for them in many respects so that they retain their dignity, yet a national family show has no such disposition or concern. The irony is that a contestant before who did have mental health issues was pulled from the show after progressing which can only have been a massive blow to the persons morale. People with low intelligence or indeed mental health suffer enough as it is in society without national media portraying them as buffoons. I'm not saying those people can't be gifted in many ways because they can but the reality often is that they don't see things as we do and that's the simple fact of it, if they were to progress the trappings of fame and publicity would only end up confusing them more and doing real psychological damage.
In closing I think the X factor needs to concentrate more on the potential talent than highlighting no talent at all. Everyone deserves the right to apply but everyone needs to be treated with respect and moral understanding of the implications of being on the show. I don't like what Simon Cowell stands for basically, the X Factor is all about finding potential talent for financial gain, the contestants also gain short term but when they fall out of the brief attention span of the public they are released from (as I understand) a very stringent contract and then who knows what will become of them, remember Steve Brookstein? In March 2010 Mr Brookstein was performing in a pub in Cornwall where punters paid £2.50p to hear him sing, if you bought a pie and a pint that was then waived, his two albums were on sale for £3 each. Despite his 5 minutes of fame he's a very bitter man.
Musically the X Factor has and never will give us anything other than commercial produced pulp pop tunes where the contestants are propelled to fame without any real maturing. There's lots of genuine talent out there in this country, the sensible ones probably opt not to appear on the X Factor because they have a love for 'real' music. We may live in an age in where things move a little faster and singers or bands become popular overnight due to the media unlike the greats who have had to perform long and hard over the years to gain recognition and deserved fame but like a wine or cheese that matures over time - they're always better.
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