On TV: Does Britain Have Talent?
Posted in On the Tube,ReviewsApril 23, 2011Comments Off
Opinion: Having watched the video clip of this years ‘Subu’ BGT hopeful Michael Collings singing a version of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” am left wondering two things. The first is a little harsh but is one I will stick to, why does BGT allow singers in the show? And the second is if your unattractive and against type is your singing seen as a tallent?
Sitting with friends who watched the clip on Youtube and announced that it was ‘beautiful’ and ‘how could you knock that performance’ I found myself feeling as though I was alone in my analysis of the show. When did singing become a talent and why does the show accept singers when there is X-Factor?
Michael Collings himself produces nothing special and his version of Fast Car was a good effort but was nothing more. Cities up and down the UK boast hundreds and thousands of ‘singers’ who make the rounds of bars and clubs trying to get their music out there. Some of them are great, some good, and most are just average, which Collings falls into.
BGT – The ‘Drama’
Watching shows like this make me feel sick in that the production goes overboard to try and ‘get’ to judge the contestant. The story we get from him is dull though honest. In the fest few seconds of seeing his chat with the every annoying Ant & Dec we are giving yet more indications that this is going to be a flop…something they are overdoing to build up the so-called tension.
When he walks onto the stage the audience already have their faces set to stun, a few awkward seconds, then he sings, and long and behold he has a good voice. Cue wild applause and shots to Ant & Dec proclaiming what we can already hear in that he is a good singer, and a shot or two of the bemused judges and before the song is over we have the audience sheepishly getting to their feet to add further insult to the whole spectacle.
BGT has been desperate to try and reproduce the global success of Susan Boyle, and even I would not argue with what she has been able to achieve, mental breakdown and all. But she was a rare anomaly with her finding a market that was somewhat unique for her.
For Collings though there is a lot of competition from a great deal more artists in the UK and globally who are, I hate to say, a great deal better than he is, so it makes his inclusion in the show all the more confusing, and their reaction all the more fake.
This brings me to my second point, why is singing considered a ‘talent’ in shows like BGT when pop singing at best is all it is, singing. Boyle and even Paul Potts you could make the argument that perhaps they could be part of a show like this with their style of music ignored from shows like X-Factor, but for general singers, really?
BGT shows that there is little of any actual talent in the UK and they provide the usually set of character and same set of reactions from an incredibly lazy audience…








