On Song
Posted: Sat 28 October, 2006 Filed under: Domestic, Thoughts 6 Comments »Watching a fragment of ITV’s X-factor tonight, I realised what it is that I dislike about it.
Bascially, it’s just karaoke, isn’t it? All you have is a performer ‘singing’ someone else’s lyrics, with backing that’s either pre-recorded, or a bunch of session musicians. OK, so it doesn’t have the lyrics rolling up on a TV screen, but when all’s said and done, it’s just a person performing someone else’s songs – no musical talent necessary.
So what, only the person who writes the songs should sing them? God, poor Elvis, Sinatra, Aretha and HUNDREDS of other world-renowed ‘vocal performers’.
Yes the standard of some (most) of the X-Factor contestants isn’t very high, but that’s a bit of a blanket statement there. What you need to do, and I doubt many take this approach, is watch it every couple of weeks to see the progress the contestants make once they get a bit of voice coaching, it can be remarkable at times.
Ohh I don’t watch the show myself, but “it’s just a person performing someone else’s songs – no musical talent necessary.” Is just plain wrong mate.
Ok, so they can sing – after a bunch of vocal training. But the number of contestants who do anything except the karaoke stuff is incredibly low. If there were true musical talent, they’d be able to either a) perform their own songs or b) play at least one instrument. In the current one, there’s precisely one guy who can do that – or, OK, has been shown doing that.
Every single show is all about performing other people’s songs, nothing original, and the entire thing is about as derivative as it gets.
I realise that all the artists you mentioned did cover versions, copies etc., but they also performed their own stuff at the same time. It’s the utter lack of anything original – and, in that example, talented – that annoys me about it.
OK, so which is it? You can’t be a musical talent if you can’t play an instrument? Or you can’t be an ‘artist’ if you don’t write your own stuff.
An example, Aretha Franklin. Doesn’t write her own songs, doesn’t play any instruments. So, she’s rubbish then?
I get what you are saying but there is much more to music in general than being multi-talented. How many instruments can you play?
None – and I can’t carry a note in a bag.
And yeah, I take your point, re Aretha etc.
I dunno – I just want to see someone talented in the show, rather than some managed and marketed little git taking the easy route to “star”dom.
Ohh totally agree, the entire aim of the show isn’t to find talent but to find a marketable commodity. Sometimes i feel sorry for the people on the show as I think they genuinely feel they win because they are the best singer or whatever… but not that sorry as they are ‘stardom’ chasing nutters, most of them.
I think you have either got to be able to perform other people’s songs better than just about anything else or else produce something that is original.
My colleague’s son’s band were rejected by X-Factor basically as being too original. They’re not doing too badly, though. McFly’s manager has taken them on…