One of the acts tonight on Britain's Got Talent, a 10 year old girl called Hollie Steele broke down in tears after, well lets put it nicely, messing up and forgetting her words during her performance.
Now everyone knows you get one shot at your performance on a show like Britain's Got Talent. Except, that is, if you are a ten year old girl who turns on the tears, and then says "Please !" when told that because it is a live show they would not have time for her to perform gain.
So what is the result of her tears ? She get her way and she gets to perform again. Fair ? Hardly. None of the other acts got a second shot. None of the other acts this week who also had wobbles or made mistakes got to go on again. That surely is the nature of the show.
For me, as a parent and as a teacher, you might imagine I would have sympathy for the ten year old and feel she should go on again. But actually, no, I didn't.
What it told me is that 10 years of age is too young to be pressurised by being on such a show. But it also worried be that the message sent out was that if you cry and beg you will get your own way.
So what was the result ? Well "brave little Hollie" got through to the final. The message from the show was that forget talent, forget getting it right first time, forget that talent is also the ability to perform without making errors, tonight Britain's Got Talent was about pandering to tears.
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Showing posts with label Britain's Got Talent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britain's Got Talent. Show all posts
5/31/2008
Observations on tonight's talent shows
Two things I have observed tonight from the BBC's I'd Do Anything and ITV's Britain's Got Talent.
Firstly, in the search for a Nancy, it was pretty clear last week that Cameron Mackintosh does not want Jodie to win, and from his blatant comments tonight he wants Jessie. Somehow you can't help but feel that Mackintosh is too much of a theatre "luvvie" and that Jodie is just a bit too normal and common for his tastes. I disagree and feel that Mackintosh's preferred candidate Jessie is inconsistent and her obsession with doing a cockney accent be pronouncing every "s" sound as a "sh", is just daft.
As for Britain's got talent, they have put all the favourites at the end of the show (as they have every other night) and if I hear Amanda Holden say "I agree with everything Piers has just said", I will scream. It certainly must make Simon Cowell wonder why he employs her if all she can do is agree with Piers Morgan.
Update : Well done Jodie on becoming Nancy. It's so nice to see someone from a normal working class background do so well.
Firstly, in the search for a Nancy, it was pretty clear last week that Cameron Mackintosh does not want Jodie to win, and from his blatant comments tonight he wants Jessie. Somehow you can't help but feel that Mackintosh is too much of a theatre "luvvie" and that Jodie is just a bit too normal and common for his tastes. I disagree and feel that Mackintosh's preferred candidate Jessie is inconsistent and her obsession with doing a cockney accent be pronouncing every "s" sound as a "sh", is just daft.
As for Britain's got talent, they have put all the favourites at the end of the show (as they have every other night) and if I hear Amanda Holden say "I agree with everything Piers has just said", I will scream. It certainly must make Simon Cowell wonder why he employs her if all she can do is agree with Piers Morgan.
Update : Well done Jodie on becoming Nancy. It's so nice to see someone from a normal working class background do so well.
5/29/2008
Is Britain's Got Talent being manipulated ?
A strange thing seems to be happening each night on the show "Britain's Got Talent". Every night, of all the eight acts that perform, the winning act is the eighth and last one to perform. Strange co-incidence or is there another reason ?
Well actually the reason is clear, and it harks back to similar issues of manipulation of the final of The X Factor (another Simon Cowell show ... hmm).
Ant and Dec make clear throughout the show that the lines are not open, so watching each of the first seven acts, you are prevented from voting for one that you like. Nothing wrong with that at all. But then, as soon as the eighth act has performed, and whilst the telephone number for the eight act is on screen, Ant and Dec then tell us that "The lines are open". Now, those people who have sat patiently and want to vote for another act are then waiting for a reminder of their favourite act before voting. The problem is for them that they don't get a reminder for some time because at this point Ant and Dec and the judges talk about act number eight for another four minutes. So act number eight has had four minutes where only it is being promoted. It's akin to having a polling station open for the first hour just for one political party.
Now this is not a problem if the polls are open for some considerable amount of time because this advantage at the start can be diminished. However, the phone lines for Britain's Got Talent are only open for 15 minutes. And just like the X Factor final, the phone lines get very busy meaning that people who waited the extra 4 or 5 minutes in order to get the correct phone number for the act they like are less likely to be able to get through on the phones.
Now ITV have realised this evening that this was not quite right and they do now put up the phone numbers for the other acts a little sooner, but they do not do a resume of the other acts for quite some time. This leads to another problem for viewers. They might like a particular singer or act, but cannot remember his or her name and they wait for the resume, the short 10 second clip of the artist performing in order to be sure which one they want to vote for. So again, Act number 8 has an advantage as throughout this period Act number eight has been on screen.
This whole process really does call in to question the validity of the competition and smacks of another type of phone line fiddle which ITV have been found guilty of on many occasions recently. Whilst ITV might not making extra money from the scam, they are, in effect, pre-determining the result of a show which is supposed to be a talent show. Surely being placed number 8 in the running order and let's be clear, act number 8 has also been the strongest act each night. Another odd coincidence which was not lost on the producers I am sure.
Oddly too, when thinking back, I seem to recall that last year's winner, Paul Potts was also the last act on stage in the final. Curiouser and curiouser.
Clearly Britain's Got Talent, but so have the people who make the show and ITV. They have a talent for manipulation.
Well actually the reason is clear, and it harks back to similar issues of manipulation of the final of The X Factor (another Simon Cowell show ... hmm).
Ant and Dec make clear throughout the show that the lines are not open, so watching each of the first seven acts, you are prevented from voting for one that you like. Nothing wrong with that at all. But then, as soon as the eighth act has performed, and whilst the telephone number for the eight act is on screen, Ant and Dec then tell us that "The lines are open". Now, those people who have sat patiently and want to vote for another act are then waiting for a reminder of their favourite act before voting. The problem is for them that they don't get a reminder for some time because at this point Ant and Dec and the judges talk about act number eight for another four minutes. So act number eight has had four minutes where only it is being promoted. It's akin to having a polling station open for the first hour just for one political party.
Now this is not a problem if the polls are open for some considerable amount of time because this advantage at the start can be diminished. However, the phone lines for Britain's Got Talent are only open for 15 minutes. And just like the X Factor final, the phone lines get very busy meaning that people who waited the extra 4 or 5 minutes in order to get the correct phone number for the act they like are less likely to be able to get through on the phones.
Now ITV have realised this evening that this was not quite right and they do now put up the phone numbers for the other acts a little sooner, but they do not do a resume of the other acts for quite some time. This leads to another problem for viewers. They might like a particular singer or act, but cannot remember his or her name and they wait for the resume, the short 10 second clip of the artist performing in order to be sure which one they want to vote for. So again, Act number 8 has an advantage as throughout this period Act number eight has been on screen.
This whole process really does call in to question the validity of the competition and smacks of another type of phone line fiddle which ITV have been found guilty of on many occasions recently. Whilst ITV might not making extra money from the scam, they are, in effect, pre-determining the result of a show which is supposed to be a talent show. Surely being placed number 8 in the running order and let's be clear, act number 8 has also been the strongest act each night. Another odd coincidence which was not lost on the producers I am sure.
Oddly too, when thinking back, I seem to recall that last year's winner, Paul Potts was also the last act on stage in the final. Curiouser and curiouser.
Clearly Britain's Got Talent, but so have the people who make the show and ITV. They have a talent for manipulation.
6/13/2007
The verdict is out on whether Britain's Got Talent - But Ant and Dec certainly have
Although it is against my better judgement, I have for the last few days been watching the slightly excruciating spectacle of "Britain's got Talent", Simon Cowell's latest offering to ITV.
After the rather poor production Simon Cowell put out for "Grease is the word", ITV's desperate attempt to jump on the "find a West End star", bandwagon, I was not sure that Britain's got Talent would be very good.
The odd thing is that the show isn't actually very good. Yes, the panel of judges is a bit more heavyweight than "Grease is the Word", but only because Simon Cowell returns as a judge. Quite why Amanda Holden is a judge, only God, or Simon Cowell knows. Whilst the funny sight of some pensioner asking Piers Morgan what his qualifications to judge were must have struck a chord amongst the vast majority of the viewing public.
The majority of the acts fit the term "piss poor" rather too easily, with the talent show hopefuls only enlivening the production occasionally, most notably some of the more acrobatic acts and an amazing audition from one guy with a stunning voice with the ability to write and play his own music. Oh how Simon Cowell must have wanted to tell him to come back for the X Factor auditions. I'm afraid though the awful tendency to put through to the next round squeaky children singing off key whilst Amanda Holden cries says a lot about the overall level of judging and talent available.
So what is it that makes this awful hour a wonderful piece of entertainment ? Two words. Ant and Dec. Put simply, their charisma, their funny asides, their natural chemistry, laughing with but not too mocking of contestants, basically, a faultless hosting of a show actually helps lift the programme from the depths of banality up to a level where you can honestly tell people to watch it.
Well done Ant and Dec. Although tonight I'll have to record it as I cannot miss The Apprentice on BBC1.
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