Love it or Hate it; The X Factor is back and it is TV Marmite, splitting the nation, the masses and probably even the classes.
Sadly there was no post from me over the weekend due to the mammoth amount of X Factor related television to catch up on - The main show, The X-tra factor and now X factor 24/7 (6 hours just short of a whole working day for some!)
X factor; My dad says reality television is the dearth of television media as we know it - ask him who won the X Factor over say the last 3 years and he will definitely answer 2 out of the 3 winners correctly; this from a man who proudly tells his mates down the pub "he wouldn't be seen dead watching that rubbish!" and who secretly watches from the door when my step mum has it on the big screen.
The ratings speak for themselves, therefore I suspect the majority of the television watching society do secretly enjoy it and the ones that say they hate it cannot help but love hating it. Those that despise the show often get themselves involved in some way or another in the resentment process online; for instance the people that cant stand X Factor are often adding to the momentum of X Factor TV takeover when they post on Facebook or Twitter about their loathing. You can guarantee that come Saturday night every weekend for the next 12 weeks, 6 out of the top 10 trending list on Twitter will be X factor related.
Then you have the strange group of people like my aforementioned dad who say they hate it but cannot tear themselves away in private. A good example of a hater not realising their secret appreciation for the show is my reality TV despising partner who every year says to me " I'm not watching this, its a fix, its premeditated, Simon Cowell is the puppet master" etc... but here we are September 2010, Saturday evening, he sits down with me, gives me his running commentary of how bad people are and we play the obligatory competition in Week 1 of lets pick the winner from this years entrants.
It is true what they say, any press is good press for the X factor; look at the campaign last year on Facebook which saw a marginally small group succeed in keeping the X factor winning song from not reaching the coveted Christmas number one spot which up until 2009 was a given. The alternative song, Rage against the Machine got there ironically with a song I loved in my own youth (many moons ago) when the Saturday night television gold was Noels House Party and the Generation Game. That's correct, cast your minds back to Mr Blobby, Gotchas, Gunge Tanks, the obligatory cuddly toy. You may wish to think twice about the alternative to X Factor here in 2010.
I know the big question that you want to ask is which side of the fence I park my TV viewing bum on ..... you don't need to.
Since becoming a mother and my social life walking out the door with my energy and ability to drink, I LIVE for X Factor and I shall tell you why.
1) I like most of the people watching find the audition stages and even boot camp sessions my reality TV guilty pleasure - there are people out there that can sing worse than me and are willing to humiliate themselves in appearing on national television to boot!
2) It counts us all the way down from Autumn to Christmas and I simply adore Christmas and X factor makes it come all the more quickly in our house. 12 Weeks to go everyone!
3) I love the competitive element of picking my winner - who cares which judge wins the show! I am told the bookies female footfall doubles on the X factor winning prediction! In our house its all about whether I backed the winning horse or if my better half does - for the record I ALWAYS win. I have an eye for the talent I suspect. Note: Simon Cowell if you ever get to reading random blogs I am available immediately to start and very flexible on salary and location.
4) I also have this extremely healthy competition with a number of my friends and I love the weekly text conversations that go and back and forth while the show is on. I understand the mobile networks run at maximum capacity. I'm even pretty sure there is an I-phone app at the ready for the technology addicted folk with an insatiable need for new applications. The national power grid even surges at advert breaks while people put the kettle on or worse still switch over for a sneaky look at dare I say it Strictly Come Dancing.
5) I am additionally one of those eccentric people that love the buzz created on Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spy, etc.. the discussions and debate keep me entertained for the week until Saturday comes back around.
6) And finally to Simon ... I wait patiently for his wink... yes wink ... that little twinkle in his eye that says to us at home I love this kid - inside his head he sees dollar signs flashing and the next act to be dragged to America to fail miserably.
Shall we get to the nitty gritty though - THIS IS TELEVISION - NOT REAL LIFE, most of the acts that get through to the finals have been stage or vocally developed since they were old enough to be potty trained. The audition stages are pre-produced. I think I read somewhere that the statistic is only 5% of people that attend the auditions ever get to actually stand in front of Simon Cowell and his judging panel. Simon Cowell is not one of the most powerful men in media without good reason; Cheryl Cole and Danni Minogue were nobodies, Simon has given them both the career revival they sorely needed. Louis Walsh is the dark horse - the butt of many a joke but a hugely successfully manager in his own right and will continue on if and when The X Factor eventually winds down.
This years show promises everything we can hope for - we have already seen the abysmal auditions, we have the 12 grand a night hooker who forgot her clothes not only to her first auditions but to the whole weekend of bootcamp - Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman she aint! We have even at this stage already heard the eventual winner for 2010. From Malaria-gate, to Connie Huq-hate. Auto-tune to Simon and Nicole Scherzinger get a room.
People need to take the X factor for what it is - a very cleverly designed Truman Show for the Reality Genre.
Accept it. Love it. Hate it. I heart the Truman Show.
"Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"
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