'Has X-factor lost it's sparkle?' -Metro article
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Nice to see this thread has got some replies -all very good points, but interesting that no-one has mentioned extensive manipulation as a reason for the show's decline. It was already becoming an issue when John and Edward got pushed through the show, and got even uglier when the producers tried to force Katie Waissell (and had more success with Cher Lloyd) on an unsuspecting world. Even beyond the show, it seems obvious to me that Syco/Sony did not like Matt Cardle, and made no effort with his career. And from what I hear (I don't really watch) it seems that instead of a few ringers it is now all fixed so nearly everyone who makes it on to the live shows is someone SyCo wants to 'break'. I'm not interested in watching what amounts to and extended advert week after week selling me the industry's new crop of 'talent'. Apart from anything else it's an enormous slap in the face to the hordes of people who want to audition, talented or not, and think that they stand a chance.
he / him
This is part of the problem though, it really doesn't matter about the judges. The judges capture media attention, sure, if they have rivalry and such between them but what it does come down to is the singers in the competition. With the last few years there just has not been anyone that makes you really need to watch it. There's no need to watch it anymore, because I feel I've already seen it a million times and it's nothing I can't figure out a years time down the line when I see the winner struggle to release an album of commercial worth and the finalists release something of actual good quality.
The X Factor sparkle came in the form of Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue. Whether you liked them or not it was they who were on the front of the papers, had people chatting in work etc and as a result the acts got more attention as a knock on effect.
The biggest problem is that ITV has nothing to replace the X Factor with. Even if it's not the unstoppable ratings juggernaut it once was, it still makes them a hell of a lot of money, so it's pretty likely that it's going to stay on our screens until they find something new to substitute for it.
To be honest, I think it's had an amazing run and the audience has had remarkable staying power given how utterly stale the format is, and how many similar shows there out there.
The last series I properly watched was with Cher Lloyd/One Direction. I'm just not interested any more.
To be honest, I think it's had an amazing run and the audience has had remarkable staying power given how utterly stale the format is, and how many similar shows there out there.
The last series I properly watched was with Cher Lloyd/One Direction. I'm just not interested any more.
2008 was the best year.
I think they should bring back fly on the wall programs like Popstars and Making the Band, although they were dramatised for entertainment purposes, they were a ratings hit all around the globe. And in my opinion they produced genuinely good acts, and to see that Girls Aloud, many some of Hear'say, Danity Kane, Nicole Scherzinger (she started out in a Popstars girl group) have all been successful.
I think the opposite: they could quite easily ditch the auditions and boot camp and just make the X Factor the ten live shows. At this point all the behind the scenes stuff is beyond repetitive. All the interest is in the live shows where everyone has at least a basic level of talent and the viewers can vote on who goes through.
If they want to get a buzz going before the live shows start they could always release audition videos online or put stories in the press for those who are interested.
If they want to get a buzz going before the live shows start they could always release audition videos online or put stories in the press for those who are interested.
I just want to highlight this about Leona Lewis, because I completely agree. It's interesting to see that after this was written, Leona went on X Factor to promote "One More Sleep" - gave the most visually entertaining (the christmas circus going on around her) that she's ever given to a wide audience and has since scored her biggest hit single in years.
It's interesting going back to the days of Popstars, with Hearsay and Liberty X, of course talent shows were nothing new, but this took it to a new level. But the success that the show had was crazy and then Pop Idol came and took it to an even greater level. The X Factor came along and at first just felt like a Pop Idol rip off, it really wasn't until 2008 when it came into its own and managed to do which at the time didn't think was possible and create more of a "moment" of a final when Alexandra won. The last time the nation was gripped like that was Will Young won Pop Idol and for me, Alexandra's win felt bigger than that.
I guess that is X Factor's problem, like it did in it's first few series, it's always trying to replicate moments that have happened before, but this isn't as gripping and so it's not must watch tv anymore, so audiences have turned off.
Maybe it's the way we as a nation watch TV nowadays as well. Catch-up has made it so much easier that an audience can think to themselves, "I'll watch it later", and then never get round to it, thus eventually losing them because they're not as invested into the programme.
Part of me thinks that maybe all we need is Britain's Got Talent, or maybe X Factor should follow its format so it's over in a matter of weeks instead of dragging on for months. I think part of the reason why I'm not invested in watching it anymore is the same as a show like Big Brother. I have a life, I don't want my free time taken up watching the same thing and feel restricted to the TV.
I'd prefer this too; I'm more interested in how a group is formed than letting the great unwashed vote for who looks cute and who seems nice. The X Factor doesn't show us anything about the process of recording, and what it actually takes to create a 'star', it's all about the public vote, which, now more than ever, has been exposed to be completely un-indicative of what the buying public are interested in.
Precisely - ITV and SyCo have now (on purpose or inadvertently) told us just about everything they know about how to launch (and then ruin) a potential popstar... so those of us hungry to learn about that side of things are left contemplating how a 'real' label does it... the main answer to satisfy us would be to ditch SyCo and come back with a slightly different talent show and a different label on board (and not like the pathetic PR exercise that The Voice has been)... stricter controls over finalists (white boys under the age of 20 should only ever be permitted if they're an acceptable winner, then we can avoid the constant attempts to shut gates after horses have bolted (see Nicholas McDonald, Eoghan Quigg et al).
But then that would be a niche show, not Saturday night entertainment?
And to completely argue against what I've just said, didn't American Idol try that last year (they destroyed the males, leaving an all-girl final 5, any of whom could have been popstars and.... the winner is possibly the least successful in their history?)
She may well be least successful but she's the most amazing artist they've ever had. I'd rate her over Fantasia even though Fantasis is my favourite singer this century.
My major issue with X Factor, is that it is a totally cynical exercise in creating a successful tv show, there is absolutely zero interest in creating a viable pop star. We know that winning doesn't guarantee anything approaching a career in music, anything but. We're not invested because it doesn't matter who wins, in many case it hinders long term success.
Th choices for the final are horrendous, the musical choices are appalling and most contestants may be able to sing a bit but have absolutely no knowledge of music or what they want to be, the producers have even less idea.
The goal should not be to make it to Xmas and rake in ad revenue, it should be to genuinely search for a viable popstar and a serious focus (get rid of Syco) on making them a hit. Without this legitimacy the show will always be the shit shower it is now.
Th choices for the final are horrendous, the musical choices are appalling and most contestants may be able to sing a bit but have absolutely no knowledge of music or what they want to be, the producers have even less idea.
The goal should not be to make it to Xmas and rake in ad revenue, it should be to genuinely search for a viable popstar and a serious focus (get rid of Syco) on making them a hit. Without this legitimacy the show will always be the shit shower it is now.
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And to be fair her album hasn't even been released yet (Not that I'm expecting it to be a hit).
It's scheduled to come out 19th Feb but has already been put back twice so who knows.
It would be interesting to see for the viable pop star thing if they potentially did a rotation between a few of the labels under the Sony umbrella. So the record deals with a different label each year, letting them focus their energies on actually making someone a medium term success and not solely disregarding them when a new 'version' comes along.