An Idol is born, for the thousandth time
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Those living in South Africa know that we are now into our 1 000th episode of Idols. There seems to be a lot more prizes and a lot more talent. Before I get too carried away, what about the musical talent of the last few years? Too little marketing perhaps? I hear the X-Factor is the rave now in the UK, possibly to line Simon Cowell’s ever larger pockets. Actually I don’t mind. The guy is a genius. In SA we have Randall, the so called “nasty one”. Well, is he really nasty? No, because he says it as it is. The competition isn’t for weaklings and Randall gives the competition just that little more spice. All the judges do though. I’ll never forget the one contestent years back asking ‘Mara’ what she knew anyway after been told the bad news. Hey girl? You ever hear Mara sing? She was a star before you were even born.
This week we saw the end of S’Posh. “What?”you say. Yes S’Posh was all ready for the big time but alas now she is no more. It’s all to do with the voters you know. S’Posh has an absolutely amazing voice – and in her own way has already made it big. (sic). Sindi ran away with the show on Sunday night and I think she too has a great future. Peter Grobler is also now out – my own feeling is that he was a bit young for this. But, like S’Posh we won’t be seeing the last of this guy. My personal favourite though is Elvis Blue from George. We do need another Idol in this country – but someone that can finally pull it off. That means: “for the old and the young”. I don’t agree that this should be Pop music only and neither do I agree that it should be national stardom either. Abba outperformed Volvo years back in the financial stakes. No, we need a true winner here. Like the chicken farmer in the USA we need an international star. This means we need someone with more maturity, more charisma, more to offer than the rest. Of course I love Gail as well – anyone that looks like Halle Berry will get my vote. But seriously though, we should be aiming at a larger spectrum of audience not just the SA market. We do not have many stars that hail from SA and if we do find them, they are living elsewhere on the planet making money for the USA or British tax collectors. Readers of this column should write down the names of stars from SA living elsewhere. Trevor Rabin who?
Moving into dangerous territory I would have liked to see a properly organised event such as this on one of the SABC channels not a pay channel. S’Posh was ousted because she did not get the votes she deserved – a broad spectrum audience covering all the people living in SA. Years ago I touted Ayanda to be the winner. Again the moneyspinning came from the teenies. What about Melanie Lowe. She was an 11 but got into the top ten. Melanie and Brandon October are possibly the two most popular artists from this series these days. And they deserve to be there. I don’t particularly like Melanies songs but I love her voice. But then again they match the voice to the song don’t they. Hence Pieter W from Bloem. I think he has the makings of a great star but alas, he needs the backing of a great group like Nickleback. Who cares, I love Nickleback.
My money is on old Elvis B to get into the top five.
See you later Alligator.
Elvis T
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Dear author
TV-format talent shows sure are peaking in popularity all over the world.Yep..on again tonight!
Viewers (especially the younger ones)really buy the message that a music-star is mainly sketched by performance and muscial talent ..but do have some small critics in this.
In Europe we are smothered with X-factor, Idols and all the other Who’s got talent shows..sold like hot fresh buns over the counter.
Install the right (suitable) jury and discover some individual talent among the thousands.. There must be some difference between pop-musicians who have been much longer in the business and carry a wide range of musical background and experience. But I guess the eye is hungry to and so are the wallets of the creative minds behind this. But thank goodness the cultural impact of music and the popularity of an Idol can never be the same..
Dear author
TV-format talent shows sure are peaking in popularity all over the world.Yep..on again tonight!
Viewers (especially the younger ones)really buy the message that a music-star is mainly sketched by performance and muscial talent ..but do have some small critics in this.
In Europe we are smothered with X-factor, Idols and all the other Who’s got talent shows..sold like hot fresh buns over the counter.
Install the right (suitable) jury and discover some individual talent among the thousands.. There must be some difference between pop-musicians who have been much longer in the business and carry a wide range of musical background and experience. But I guess the eye is hungry to and so are the wallets of the creative minds behind this. But thank goodness the cultural impact of music and the popularity of an Idol can never be the same..