I never usually watch reality TV and avoid shows like the X-Factor and BGT like the plague (in fairness I rarely watch television), but I have also seemed to have got caught up in watching BGT this year.  Many of my friends and colleagues have also been hooked (which again is also unlike them).  It was huge this year and quite entertaining to watch.

Sibs wrote:
> Now far be it for me to dictate who is and isn't talented and
> who does or doesn't deserve to be famous, but the more
> 'traditional' route to fame, involving building up a fanbase over
> time and gradually getting bigger, means there's less of the
> 'overnight-fame' element... It builds up more slowly. But of
> course, the record labels and entertainment industry don't want
> acts that slowly build popularity, they want instant returns, so
> well-watched TV shows with a sure-fire hit at the end are perfect
> for them and it doesn't matter how short-lived the winners career
> will be.

That is very true.  From her background she seems to have had and the kind of person she is, I don't think she is right for the fame and fortune.

She seemed very reclusive before and to be the subject of pretty much every magazine, TV program, newspaper and internet discusssion forum that follows her absolute every move must be really awful for her. 

She can sing well and maybe she entered the show as she wanted to perform - rather than have the fame attached to it.  As I stated at the beginning of my post, BGT was huge this year - more people watching, more media coverage and more pressure to be "perfect". I think she looked relieved to have lost!

Rhydian Roberts is a fantastic singer who wouldn't have got a break without Xfactor. Will Young has done fantastically out of Pop Idol. Alexandra Burke was great on the show (though I'll reserve judgement til after her album is released).

Good talent sometimes come out of these shows. Though there are a lot of blunders...Michelle McManus, Leon, Cheeky Girls, etc.

There are a lot of people out there who have got what it takes, just not the right breaks to get anywhere - those are the people I like to see on these shows - Rather than 'curvy' women rippling in tight outfits flashing their bazookas, apple juggling and swinging waste bins from ears...

Nin wrote:

> These programmes are nothing to do with talent and everything to
> do with Simon Cowell being a money grabbing whore, exploiting
> people for cheap laughs and manipulating the general public with
> sob stories. The guy is the musical antichrist and I despise him
> almost as much as Ronaldo.

So what you're saying is Simon Cowell is a very good businessman then?

I have a longstanding policy, dating back to the beginning of X-Factor, that if any crap "talent" show comes on TV, I walk out. It annoys me immensely that despite going out of my way to avoid this nonsense it's still all over the sodding papers and internet. I don't want to know who SuBo is, frankly it makes me feel dumber for knowing of her existence.  I'm hearing that this woman is supposedly off her head, in which case the publicity she has received has been irresponsible but then money trumps all so screw whether it's in her best interests, as long as she's making someone money. It's both sad, disgraceful and a damning indictment of the culture vacuum in this country and depressing that people can't see through it
These programmes are nothing to do with talent and everything to do with Simon Cowell being a money grabbing whore, exploiting people for cheap laughs and manipulating the general public with sob stories. The guy is the musical antichrist and I despise him almost as much as Ronaldo.

Rant over

Like millions of others, I admit to being hooked on BGT. I thought Diversity deserved to win because they are something completely new. When I first saw them it was obvious that this was on the cusp of something revolutionary in the field of modern dance. It was more like theatre and the more I watched them, the better they looked.

However, what has soured it is the way the show has taken a lonely and naive spinster and put more pressure on her than it had any damn right to.

I think there are many reasons she will continue to suffer. In pre-internet days, TV talent shows were, quite literally, instant fame and instant oblivion. Now, with over 100 million views, Susan Boyle has become a global sensation. In my view, the best thing for her would be to get out of show business as quickly as the poor woman can, Simon Cowell can afford to lose a grubby few bob more anyway.

Finally, who would you like to have seen win?