In this day and age EVERYONE wants to be famous. I will admit...yeah it would be really nice to do something out of the norm. I cant imagine living my life on a 9 - 5 every day. People crave fame, and you know that already. But if everyone was famous there would be no plebians to look down upon. And without being able to make someone else feel inferior what use is being famous?
I was watching the X factor today. There are a few things about it that really don't sit comfortably with me. The main thing i want to talk about is actually getting to the bottom of what the "X" in "X Factor" actually is. Most people seem to believe they have it but in my eyes not one person i have seen does. I know what it is. Do you want me to tell you? You sure you want to know? Because it might ruin the show for you. Ok here it is; The X factor is...Drumroll...the ability to write songs. Sounds simple doesnt it? Well it is. The major problem i have with X Factor is that it concentrates on the one talent of singing. I know what your thinking "but Dave! its a singing competition!" NO. Fuck you, your wrong. You are absolutely ignorant. It is not a singing contest, it is a search for the X Factor and if you think about it having that ability is absolutely what you need to stay in the music business. Why do you think 98% of winners are forgotten about 3 months after the series finishes? Because they have been milked like a genetically enhanced cow for all they are worth and then thrown into the meat blender ready for kerry katona to sell to you at a local island shopping centre. If a singer had the ability to write their own music they might have a chance of making it on their own. I always wonder why, if you think you have a god given gift to music, do you insist on going on a TV show to make your fame? Its only a temporary answer. Its pure laziness. In the music business (like any business) the harder you work...the better you do (not that i know anything about business...i just think thats common knowlege right?) Its writing music, playing it in absolute dives and working your way up that gets you credability, respect and more importantly EXPERIENCE. you cant get experience on a 4 month game show. When you think about it though the X factor is just a machine. It knows what its doing and doesnt want to stop. I needs its winners to fade away so it can snatch up another "hot talent" and market them. They need to make sure they have enough hopefulls for another series right?
Obviously there are other things about the show that irritate me but i wont go into them in great detail. I will just say that the way its edited is disgusting. I swear they must think their audience are idiots...well maybe they are. I cant stand the cuts to the panels reations to a particually good or bad singer. They are not natural reactions and have been edited poorly. Then there are the sob stories. i mean come on. You are only airing the sob stories to indicate to the viewer "this person might have a chance of winning" and its insanely patronising on the viewer. I noticed today that dragons den does a simular thing. Not so much with a sob story but more just with how the narrator speaks. Its weird, its almost in code. You can just tell who is going to get rejected before you even see them or their "revolutanary electric bullet-proof arse wiping machine" because its always fucking hinted at you.
And at the end of the day we dont want to see a sob story about a contestant whos dog i ran over...we want to see a contestant crying because of rejection. We want to see it because we have been given a free ticket to a freak show and not watching it would be a waste wouldnt it?
