Doubtless you will have seen this piece that’s been floating round – The X Factor‘s Katie Waissel was on the books of Sony BMG (the company that Simon Cowell works for) and oh look! She appears to have made the final twelve ahead of several people apparently more talented.
Of course, this should be an outrage. And yet. And yet and yet and yet. Nobody cares because over certain things, people basically secretly enjoy being wound up. It allows them to have an opinion on something, and they’ll keep watching to see precisely how wound up they get, despite protestations that they will never watch again. Also that Simon Cowell is a bit of a bastard isn’t he? That’s exactly the sort of thing we’d expect from him, and so we secretly chuckle along because that’s sort of what we want.
The X Factor has only ever superficially been a singing competition. Sure, the cream rises, but the first six weeks of the live show or so have always really been about the order that never-had-a-chances go out and the SHOCKING DRAMA AND OUTRAGE when they go out in the wrong perceived order. Hint to Fantasy X Factor managers: Like Jedward last year, Katie isn’t going anywhere for a few weeks.
In other news: it’s Only Connect this evening!
In other other news, I’m not entirely sure I can be bothered following The Amazing Race this season. And I’m not really feeling Survivor either. This certainly isn’t the first time I’ve given these shows a break and come back to them seasons later, although I am quite looking forward to following this season of The Challenge. And I have yet to watch last week’s 71 Degrees North. Can anyone give good reasons why I would be wrong to take a break from these shows for the moment?
PS tweeted that next weeks ep of The Cube was better than this past one- maybe to try and negate some of the probable erosion because the 2nd half is up against the Strictly results show?
I’ve got a question for David B, if he’s around. I’d have asked him over Twitter, but there’s no way I can fit it into 140 characters.
On last week’s Mssng Vwls, I’d have buzzed with “Kia” for the “K” clue. The right answer was Ikea – but K MTRS showed up later. I’m guessing the call would have been that it’d be a wrong answer, but it seems a bit shaky. What would you have called?
Hmm, good point. That’s always the risk with single letter clues – they look funny but they’re really a world of pain. I think in practice we’d have binned the category, or possibly said “yes” to KIA then used our spare (there’s always one written) in place of KIA MOTORS.
This week, I am mostly pleased to learn the term “avoirdupois”.
I think this was my favourite episode of Only Connect this series – and, not uncoincidentally, probably the one with most “interesting but easy” questions in the first two rounds so far. (Deliberately so, DB?)
We don’t set particular questions for particular pairs of teams. I put similar groups of questions into each six and the producer pairs the teams up. Each process is done blind of the other so it’s luck of the draw what you get.
This shows you how much the world has changed since series 1: I actually get complaints if the questions are too easy! Or rather, one half complain it’s too hard and the other half say they scored really well. It didn’t happen so much this week because people were distracted by Paul Cornell’s appearance, but follow #onlyconnect and you’ll see what I mean.
If anyone has a question where they think “How on Earth was anyone supposed to get that?” then quote it on here and I’ll do my best to explain my thinking.
Speaking of Paul Cornell, he gives a glowing review of your hospitality in his blog. http://www.paulcornell.com/2010/10/only-connect-behind-scenes.html
(My only question along ‘how on earth…’ lines reguards the snooker ball/london underground sequence question, despite it actually being one I love)
Admittedly, that probably ought to have been at least a semifinal question. But the logic goes like this:
It’s obviously fairly early on that it’s about London Underground lines, so there’s only three likely candidates:
– when the lines opened
– how long the lines are
– something to do with colours or the Tube map
I’d expect you to know that the Metropolitan line was the first to be built (likewise, Central can’t be the most modern), and clue 2 (Circle) pretty much rules out lengths of lines.
From there, I don’t think it’s beyond the wit of Man to solve it. Richard Osman told me he got it, so… it was tough but gettable.
(Incidentally, the reason I liked that question was because its the sort of question only Only Connect can ask)
Well, that’s true – I’ve grumbled about the difficulty of these first round shows earlier this series, so being able to get several right this time makes this episode “identifiably easier” IMV, though not “too easy” for my taste.
one half complain it’s too hard and the other half say they scored really well
Then don’t mind me, you’re probably getting it about right!
I repeat the offer – give me some examples of questions that you think were too hard for a heat and I’ll try to explain our thinking.
Twitter foul: which of you and radinden retweeted the other without quoting it as a RT? (There is reason why I’m asking, which I’ll come to in time…)
Well I hit the Retweet button on Twitteriffic, I don’t think that bothers adding RT to the front (although it should insinuate the RT somehow). But I don’t know.
Edit: Yeah, it’s got the Retweet icon where I’m looking on the web.
Oh I follow you now, it doesn’t show RT symbols on the Twitter thing in the sidebar, I’ve just noticed. That’s probably tough luck I’m afeared.
Well, in fairness, Katie wasn’t on ‘Cowell’s books’. Simon isn’t involved with the day-to-day A&R at Sony BMG because Sony BMG isn’t a record label in itself but collection of labels. Simon only has involvement with acts signed to Syco Music – his own label.
And according to that Anorak article, Katie’s involvement with some execs at Sony BMG didn’t go further than a couple of meetings.
I don’t think it’s fair or reasonable to make it an X Factor rule that contestants must never have made contact in a professional capacity with Sony BMG executives. It would rule out hundreds of aspiring performers.
The current X Factor rules state that a contestant must not currently be in a management or record company contract.
Leona Lewis was known to Simon before the X Factor and she had a contract with a indie label. However, she was dropped from that contract and was therefore not in contract when she entered the X Factor. As it should be.
The smart money regarding Katie is that the producers desperately wanted her on the show (for reasons baffling to most – but probably down to her desperation being considered entertaining) but that Katie was under some kind of contract with the producers of the ‘Green Eyed Monster’ web show. Syco paid good money to release Katie from that contract prior to her audition and therefore to justify the expense they need her to at least by through to live finals.
I sympathise with the ill feeling over this mini-scandal, not because I hate Katie, but because her place cost Gamu hers. However, that Anorak article is so terribly written and brings together so much spurious and irrelevant ‘evidence’ that is going unchallenged.
For example; how relevant is it that Katie was a support act for an Andy bloody Abraham theatre tour? Or that knowing the producer of Dermot’s BBC Radio 2 show could somehow swing her a place through to the X Factor finals? As I suggested earlier, I think it’s unreasonable to expect that any X Factor applicant has had no previous connection with any individual involved with the show or it’s affiliate commercial organisations. X Factor has such a wide reaching influence into British pop that doing so would be almost impossible.
The story about that XF reject gets weirder and weirder- now they’re sawing the decided not to go with her because her visa might not be renewed, and she’d be forced to leave the country..
I strongly agree with Mr. Bother and Mr. Fandango’s broad thrusts: this strikes me as an excuse to talk about the programme, and all publicity is good publicity. One point deserves further amplification.
Simon isn’t involved with the day-to-day A&R at Sony BMG
This is true. Mr. Cowell is generally believed to be on a “points” contract with the company, whereby he gets a very small fraction (nought point nought one per cent, or something along those lines) of the music division’s entire income. This is standard procedure for senior music biz people. If this is so, it would explain why so much of the repetoire on his television shows is published and/or performed by Sony BMG companies. And, yes, Rage Against the Machine were signed to one of these Sony BMG labels, so Mr. Cowell won either way.
A friend of mine speculates that one of the running storylines this season will be Cowell pushing the two bands that he put together from not-quite-successful soloists, for his own personal reflected glory, ahead of his other group.
An excellent point, that. Hadn’t thought of that; could be a very, very good call.
However, one of them is a girl band, so don’t hold hopes up for them. One Direction could be the dark horse, though.
A recommendation:
If, like me, you’re not a regular visitor of the TV channels in the 200’s, you could do a lot worse than tune into the Food Network’s game show “Chopped”.
Four chefs compete in three rounds: Appetiser (20 minute time limit), Entree (30 mins) and Dessert (30 mins). They have to use 3 or 4 mandatory ingredients in the dish, along with any ingredients they like from a generously large stocked fridge and pantry. At the end of the time, three judges sample the food and the chef whose food is worst is eliminated (“Chopped”).
So far, so Ready Steady Cook. A few things make this rather addictive, however. The twist is that often the compulsory ingredients are freakishly bizarre – you might get okra, cheese nachos, turbot and molasses; or for dessert you might get quince jam, feta cheese and popsicles. However, the baskets are cleverly pitched as they are strange and funny but they often have a way of balancing out the clashing flavours.
The host is excellent, in the form of Ted Allen. He was originally the food and drink guy on “Queer Eye” but here he couldn’t be straighter here if he tried and he treads a good line between driving the format, humour, seriousness, chipping in his own food knowledge interest, and stirring up mischief.
The chefs cook side by side, so there’s a lot of energy in the kitchen and quite a lot of conflict too as they fight over ingredients and equipment. And the resulting dishes range from stunning to disastrous.
Some things I’d tweak in the UK version: there’s far far too much useage of Confession Cam, as always. Instead, I would use the judges more in a voiceover mode to explain what’s going on. The editing is a bit suspect and by-the-numbers (e.g. Judge says something good, Contestant smiles, Judge says something good, Contestant frowns) and the music’s a bit overpowering sometimes.
Overall, though, it’s a nice little format.
I can recommend this too – I’d have said it’s a pitch between Old Masterchef and Iron Chef, which is just right. Like all modern shows with ‘reality’ stylings, some of the competitors are outright Characters with a capital C, not always the best chef. But it’s really not that bad, and one of the best things on FN.
The thing that sort of bugs me a bit about it is that there is an element of setting the contestants up to fail, and the judges are more negatively critical than they are on even things like Masterchef. There is no negative entertainment to it; all the contestants are in the same tricky position. It’s just that if you get an ingredient in your basket that you’ve never encountered, let alone cooked with, before then you’re doing brilliantly to do anything with it in my eyes. As technical challenges go, it seems very difficult to me.
There is also one judge who is dislikeably scowly, though they are perfectly friendly in the bit at the end when they award the winner the cheque. Said judge was a contest on Iron Chef America not so long ago and lost handsomely. I cheered.
Incidentally, the good Mrs. D and I are moving to another house two miles away on Saturday. We will be moving from Sky to Virgin Media, by virtue of there being a cable box inside the house and engineers available to visit on Moving Day, but no satellite dish on the wall, and thus losing Sky Poker and a few other channels (e.g. The Food Network as opposed to Good Food). I have no particular position in the Virgin/Sky war and might compare and contrast the two at some point, though I don’t like Murdoch’s politics, obv.
A very good point on this being simply publicity; if all it means is to make people vote for someone else in the early rounds, Mr. Cowell’s job is done.
And Katie will be eliminated in reasonably short order, but possibly not immediately. She might sneak into November, and that’s about it – but I can say that for about seven of the acts, and at least three of them will make it into November, barring some really freaky double eliminations.
Where there is a problem is whether this is all sustainable. X-Factor has produced several years’ worth of mini-scandals like this, and become stronger for it. How long can the show go on this way before the accumulated damage reaches a tipping point where the publicity is actually bad publicity? Probably not nearly as soon as I’d like, but it’s got to be possible somewhere down the line.
If I were one of the upper-middling acts in the competition, I’d be secretly hoping to be eliminated in the obligatory November Surprise, with Katie staying in at my expense. The last victim of the November Surprise – Lucie over Jedward – has gained more unequivocal success to date than the overall winner. (Though not as much, of course, as Jedward…)
X-Factor has produced several years’ worth of mini-scandals like this, and become stronger for it.
I’d gently question whether the programme is actually a stronger brand now than it was in about 2006. Yes, it’s finally managed to launch some bankable stars (Leona Lewis, probably Alexandra Burke, probably The Jls), but there’s a sizeable groundswell of people who react against the show and all it stands for.
I think The X Factor has survived because it’s evolved. More audition programmes. More exotic locations. More categories, more mentors, more confident broadcasts, more capable hosts. Last year’s gimmick was the Sunday night results show, promoting both The X Factor and other Sony BMG acts.
How long can the show go on this way before the accumulated damage reaches a tipping point where the publicity is actually bad publicity? Probably not nearly as soon as I’d like, but it’s got to be possible somewhere down the line.
It can come very quickly. The X Factor reminds me of Big Brother after six series – still tweaking the formula, still phenomenally popular amongst a certain section of society, other people are completely nonplussed by it, and some are actively attacking the lack of art in the format. Mr. Cowell’s got to handle these critics better – when he and Mrs. Cole vented about the campaign against last year’s anointed one, it was clear they felt threatened, they felt a particular bauble was theirs as of right, and that just fuelled the protest.
There will be a tipping point, I expect it will be sudden and possibly not as obvious as Shilpa -v- Goody. After it’s happened, expect the format to end. If there’s one thing Mr. Cowell is good at, it’s leaving people wanting more.
Anyway, the question of “is any publicity good publicity?” was discussed on Radio 4’s The Meeja Show With Steve Hewlett. I must warn listeners that this show may contain Steve Hewlett.