This surely is getting ridiculous now ...
Today One Direction were spotted leaving Sony HQ after a meeting with Simon Cowell. Speculation is rife that he is bagging the band for himself before the competition has even reached halfway through the finals.
Is the X Factor even a competition anymore? I appreciate One Direction are insanely popular (ask any teenage girl and they will confirm this!), but to give them the prize before they've even won??
Not only is this unfair full stop, it's also unfair on the other acts. None of them are going to get offered a record deal by the by, because the whole point of people competing in the X Factor is that the prize is one. Simon is basically saying to the band "You will probably win, but just in case you don't, I'll make you an equal offer myself of the prize". So much for the impartiality of being a judge, eh? I guess we can't rely on him both as their future boss, current mentor and current judge to give an objective view when needed come Saturday night.
Not that being a mentor really matters. Look at Belle Amie. Despite waxing lyrical today that they did not feel second best to One Direction, it's pretty obvious they're only saying that in the hope that Cowell will on the offchance offer them a record deal too. You're wasting your time, girls! He's already chosen his favourites! Louis Walsh was probably right - Simon has been spending all his time with OD as oppsed to BA. He had it written all over his face when he dodged the question when Louis asked him on the Xtra Factor.
I'm not opposed to people being successful, and if One Direction are going to be that's their business. But for Simon to publicly favour them like this - and bringing real money and contracts into it - before the competition's finals have even really got going is just plain unfair.
One Direction should do the decent thing and withdraw from the competition.
Monday 1 November 2010
Friday 29 October 2010
Katie & Cher - The Unpopulars?
There's been a lot of talk going round recently that X Factor hopefuls Katie Waissel and Cher Lloyd are pretty much hated by the general public - fellow finalist Matt Cardle is said today to have branded Katie a "fame hungry t***" (or something of the kind), whilst Cher has been booed out in public.
From what I see, both girls are fame-hungry and ambitious, and will stop at nothing to become the next Big Thing. And for that I applaud them.
Why is it in this country we are so ready to knock people down that want to be successful? You know, of all the X Factor contestants, Katie and Cher are the ones that I see true star quality in - they're confident, confident, confident, and you need that to survive in showbiz. It's a quality found in abundance in Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, the other Cher - you name it, they all have the same qualities as Cher Lloyd and Katie. They're ambitious, and they want their dream badly.
I'd be quite worried if they weren't fame hungry! If that were the case then they're definitely on the wrong show. If there's anybody on the X Factor who isn't seeking fame (Matt Cardle included), then they're lying. If any of them wanted to sing professionally to lots of people, they do not have to be on the X Factor to do that. They could quite easily do live gigs up and down the country, in Butlins for example. But it's quite obvious they all want fame and fortune, without exception. Katie and Cher just happen to have a lot more ambition over the rest of them, which they are probably jealous of.
I don't particularly favour Cher or Katie over any other, but they don't deserve the stick they are getting. They want to be rich, famous and successful, and who can blame them! Good for Katie for being fame-seeking - at least she has the guts to go for her dream full throttle. If I'm paying good money to go to someone's concert, I want to go and see someone who I know is enjoying the performance as much as I am, who is completely confident in themselves and will 100% deliver a good show and know it. That's what all successful artists do. That's what makes a popstar.
Hitch your wagon to a star, girls, and don't settle for anything less.
Vive ambition!
From what I see, both girls are fame-hungry and ambitious, and will stop at nothing to become the next Big Thing. And for that I applaud them.
Why is it in this country we are so ready to knock people down that want to be successful? You know, of all the X Factor contestants, Katie and Cher are the ones that I see true star quality in - they're confident, confident, confident, and you need that to survive in showbiz. It's a quality found in abundance in Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, the other Cher - you name it, they all have the same qualities as Cher Lloyd and Katie. They're ambitious, and they want their dream badly.
I'd be quite worried if they weren't fame hungry! If that were the case then they're definitely on the wrong show. If there's anybody on the X Factor who isn't seeking fame (Matt Cardle included), then they're lying. If any of them wanted to sing professionally to lots of people, they do not have to be on the X Factor to do that. They could quite easily do live gigs up and down the country, in Butlins for example. But it's quite obvious they all want fame and fortune, without exception. Katie and Cher just happen to have a lot more ambition over the rest of them, which they are probably jealous of.
I don't particularly favour Cher or Katie over any other, but they don't deserve the stick they are getting. They want to be rich, famous and successful, and who can blame them! Good for Katie for being fame-seeking - at least she has the guts to go for her dream full throttle. If I'm paying good money to go to someone's concert, I want to go and see someone who I know is enjoying the performance as much as I am, who is completely confident in themselves and will 100% deliver a good show and know it. That's what all successful artists do. That's what makes a popstar.
Hitch your wagon to a star, girls, and don't settle for anything less.
Vive ambition!
Thursday 28 October 2010
One Direction? That Direction is Up
I've read somewhere that Simon Cowell is going to give One Direction a record deal whether they win the X Factor or not.
From what I see, hear and read, this new boyband are seriously popular. As I've said before, I can see why - they're very young (closer to teenage girls' age than say, The Wanted), they're cheeky, they're wild, they're alpha males, and they can sound out a pretty ok tune together ...
But isn't this just turning into a farce now? Why not just proclaim them winners right here and now? Or if they're that popular, have them withdraw from the competition and have their record deal without going through the formality of winning?
Whatever the situation, these guys are seriously lucky. Good enough to make it to bootcamp, but not good enough to continue, but not bad enough to be dropped, what were the chances they would have even dreamed of being thrown together in a boyband with four other strangers, the chances that they'd actually get on, or sound well together, or the chances that they've grabbed the public's imagination like they have ...?
Perhaps I'm a bit bitter here. Life is a bit too easy for these boys. Sure, they might work hard at what they do - but who doesn't work hard? It all just seems a lot that not only are they insanely popular but are now even immune to the competition of winning the show, because they may as well have won it already. What value does winning the show have now, if people are assured of having won something equivalent already?
That world of showbiz is too cruel. We have Simon Cowell practically shoving a contract in One Direction's hand, whilst the other finalists are still left nervously waiting as to what their future will be ... and it all depends on the X Factor.
But now One Direction have gotten so big that they no longer need the very show that has made them, whilst Diva Fever, John Adeleye, Nicolo Festa and Storm will all probably have it as the highlight of their careers. Yet for One Direction, it's just the beginning (and they don't even need to win it).
One final rant. I've nothing against the boys. But one of them, Zayn, threw a paddy at bootcamp and refused to take part in the dancing task for fear of looking stupid. Now safely in the band, I'm of the opinion he should've been eliminated for throwing the paddy, so that his place could have been given to someone who would have gladly done anything that is thrown at them.
I guess that's what they call Showbiz.
That's showbiz.
From what I see, hear and read, this new boyband are seriously popular. As I've said before, I can see why - they're very young (closer to teenage girls' age than say, The Wanted), they're cheeky, they're wild, they're alpha males, and they can sound out a pretty ok tune together ...
But isn't this just turning into a farce now? Why not just proclaim them winners right here and now? Or if they're that popular, have them withdraw from the competition and have their record deal without going through the formality of winning?
Whatever the situation, these guys are seriously lucky. Good enough to make it to bootcamp, but not good enough to continue, but not bad enough to be dropped, what were the chances they would have even dreamed of being thrown together in a boyband with four other strangers, the chances that they'd actually get on, or sound well together, or the chances that they've grabbed the public's imagination like they have ...?
Perhaps I'm a bit bitter here. Life is a bit too easy for these boys. Sure, they might work hard at what they do - but who doesn't work hard? It all just seems a lot that not only are they insanely popular but are now even immune to the competition of winning the show, because they may as well have won it already. What value does winning the show have now, if people are assured of having won something equivalent already?
That world of showbiz is too cruel. We have Simon Cowell practically shoving a contract in One Direction's hand, whilst the other finalists are still left nervously waiting as to what their future will be ... and it all depends on the X Factor.
But now One Direction have gotten so big that they no longer need the very show that has made them, whilst Diva Fever, John Adeleye, Nicolo Festa and Storm will all probably have it as the highlight of their careers. Yet for One Direction, it's just the beginning (and they don't even need to win it).
One final rant. I've nothing against the boys. But one of them, Zayn, threw a paddy at bootcamp and refused to take part in the dancing task for fear of looking stupid. Now safely in the band, I'm of the opinion he should've been eliminated for throwing the paddy, so that his place could have been given to someone who would have gladly done anything that is thrown at them.
I guess that's what they call Showbiz.
That's showbiz.
Monday 25 October 2010
Cheryl, Queen of Mime
Okay okay, I got it half right. Belle Amie stayed against all odds to compete next week, but poor old TrayC and John were in the sing-off. I've had a suspicion for a while John would go - he had a great voice but then so do most people on the show, so it doesn't really count for anything. The public are hungry for that sparkle in your eye, that charisma, the glittering star quality ... having a good voice is nothing more than a given pre-requisite, really.
Which brings me nicely onto Ms. Cole, who performed her new single Promise This on last night's show. I should've thought it pretty obvious that she almost entirely mimed the whole song, save for one line somewhere in the middle, heavily supported by a backing track.
I suppose there are plus and minus points to miming. A lot of artists have done it in the past - just look at the Spice Girls, they hardly ever performed live (I think their act would've been dead in the water if they had). But that was the Nineties, before the age of singing competitions like the X Factor, and the public have become every more demanding. Not only do we want a flawless performance, we want it live. We want singing, belting high notes, pumped up dance routines, stunning costumes, fireworks, the lot. And to be honest, we've had it from a lot of the wannabes that are competing this year.
Which makes Cheryl, to put it bluntly, a hypocrite. She is sitting pretty and earning big bucks for sitting on her very pert behind and voicing her opinion on others' singing. You might say she's been there and done that (I've seen the videos and they're atrocious). But she's still out there doing it, promoting herself as a serious recording artist. For her to sit there and pull up other people on not hitting that high note, the wobbly starts or the off-key moments and then get up there and not be prepared to do it herself is a very smug pot calling a lot of talented kettles black. The excuse is that she has a "lot of dance routines" to keep up with and thus can't do the vocal at the same time. Now, do you think that we'd accept that from the X Factor contestants?
If you're a recording artist, Cheryl, put your money where your mouth is. Or actually, just put your voice where your mouth is.
Which brings me nicely onto Ms. Cole, who performed her new single Promise This on last night's show. I should've thought it pretty obvious that she almost entirely mimed the whole song, save for one line somewhere in the middle, heavily supported by a backing track.
I suppose there are plus and minus points to miming. A lot of artists have done it in the past - just look at the Spice Girls, they hardly ever performed live (I think their act would've been dead in the water if they had). But that was the Nineties, before the age of singing competitions like the X Factor, and the public have become every more demanding. Not only do we want a flawless performance, we want it live. We want singing, belting high notes, pumped up dance routines, stunning costumes, fireworks, the lot. And to be honest, we've had it from a lot of the wannabes that are competing this year.
Which makes Cheryl, to put it bluntly, a hypocrite. She is sitting pretty and earning big bucks for sitting on her very pert behind and voicing her opinion on others' singing. You might say she's been there and done that (I've seen the videos and they're atrocious). But she's still out there doing it, promoting herself as a serious recording artist. For her to sit there and pull up other people on not hitting that high note, the wobbly starts or the off-key moments and then get up there and not be prepared to do it herself is a very smug pot calling a lot of talented kettles black. The excuse is that she has a "lot of dance routines" to keep up with and thus can't do the vocal at the same time. Now, do you think that we'd accept that from the X Factor contestants?
If you're a recording artist, Cheryl, put your money where your mouth is. Or actually, just put your voice where your mouth is.
Sunday 24 October 2010
The X Factor’s going in One Direction ...
So here we have arrived into Week Three of that highly addictive competition-slash-drama that we call the X Factor.
To say this is the best series yet is an understatement. Those who thought the hype wouldn’t match last year’s have been proved very wrong - the level of fame the show has achieved this year has reached fever-pitch. This week the contestants were taken “shopping” and were duly mobbed by hundreds perhaps thousands of screaming fans in London. I say “shopping” because I wouldn’t put it past Simon Cowell to have tipped off the entire British press that they were going to be there, and it was hardly as though all of the final 12 would expect a leisurely browse in Top-Shop, on a trip where they all just happened to be together, enjoying each other’s company ...
But then the media frenzy is what makes this show all the more delicious! I’m part of it, after all. Last night I was glued yet again to my TV and was not disappointed. The highlight for me was Katie Waissel. Here’s my low-down on last night’s performances ...
Paije: A phenomenal voice, but this is clearly a stitch-up: they put him deliberately first, because they know that that is the most vulnerable position, and usually increases the chance of someone being in the bottom two, as they will have faded from memory by the time the phone lines open at the end of the performances. Great vocal, but I can’t help think they’re willing him to go ... they put him first and dress him in pretty outrageous garb that would’ve been in the dustbin even in the Eighties ... I think, sadly, Paije’s time on this show is borrowed. He’s a great performer, but not a popstar.
John: Another stitch-up, because going second is almost as bad as going first. I think they’re willing this one to go too. Great vocal, but this is starting to not mean anything when all the finalists have a ship-shape pair of lungs on them. A performance that was slated by the judges, had some unnecessary smooching from backing dancers in the background ... and a downright silly choice of hairstyle. Like Paije, his card is also marked.
Rebecca: Vocal of the goosebump variety, she’s really beginning to suit those slow, svelte numbers they’re giving her. Popstar? Maybe a few decades ago ...
TreyC: Unfortunately I was distracted during this performance so I can’t really comment, although maybe the fact I was distracted wasn’t a good sign. I think she’s a great singer but she looks too like Alexandra and Leona in genre ... I think the job vacancy she’s going for is already filled.
Wagner: Where do I begin! Seems a lovely man, but absolutely bonkers. We also might as well start naming him the Court Jester, because he’s got as much chance of winning as FYD. Sadly for him, he’s part of the X Factor game ... he’s a bit of fun in the early rounds, before it gets serious and it’s Boa Noite for him.
One Direction: The X Factor Cash Cow. You only have to feel the vibe of their popularity everywhere to know this group won’t just win the competition but will be catapulted to stardom leaving their humble roots way behind them. They’re young, good-looking and have charisma, which basically fills every teenage girl’s criteria. They can sing ok, but to be honest I can’t see that that matters one jot. They’ll put teenage bums on seats, their posters will be everywhere and they bring the pounds rolling in for Mr Cowell. Which means it is small wonder he’s plugging the group as much as he can and realistically is probably already jotting down ideas for their first album. The clear winners by far.
Belle Amie: Poor lasses. If anyone’s going to feel failure due to the success of One Direction, it’s them. The only other group left in Simon’s category, they’re pretty much on the scrapheap already. There’s only room for one group in this town, and One Direction have plumped quite happily for that spot. With Simon plugging them away, his other act Belle Amie don’t stand a chance. OK vocals, they gel a bit, but no-one really knows who they are or their names, or even cares. They’re going tonight.
Mary: I absolutely loved Mary last week, and was really looking forward to this week’s performance. Sadly I was disappointed. I was expecting a powerful belting number, but not one she’d already performed at her first audition. That’s old hat now. The song was fine, the vocals were amazing as always, but it was old news. Come on Mary, show us what you’re made of and bring the house down next week!
Matt: Wow. Wow. WOW. This, along with Katie, was a stellar performance. Who would have thought that him sat there on his own with nothing but his guitar singing Baby One More Time would have worked, but boy did it work! He made the song completely his own and left me spellbound by his performance. A true pro, give the man a record deal NOW!
Aiden: Mmm yeah ok he was good, but his performance is getting a bit samey. For once I agree with Cheryl – I don’t know if I could sit through 22 songs of him twitching like a maniac.
Cher: Another pro. Like Simon said, you would’ve thought she was at one of her own concerts the way she performed. Sexy, sassy and confident to the core, she rocked the place. I only hope the bad press she’s getting doesn’t pull her down.
Katie: The performance of the night!! What an ending to the show, with a jazzy version of the Jungle Book’s King of the Swingers, she jazzed nimbly across the stage in a stunning and cheeky Twenties’ style dress and feathery boa that positively made her look radiant. She looked every inch the popstar as she threw back her head, laughed and jazzed her way through this nifty number. I would pay good money to see that performance again, and many more like it. A true star!!
To say this is the best series yet is an understatement. Those who thought the hype wouldn’t match last year’s have been proved very wrong - the level of fame the show has achieved this year has reached fever-pitch. This week the contestants were taken “shopping” and were duly mobbed by hundreds perhaps thousands of screaming fans in London. I say “shopping” because I wouldn’t put it past Simon Cowell to have tipped off the entire British press that they were going to be there, and it was hardly as though all of the final 12 would expect a leisurely browse in Top-Shop, on a trip where they all just happened to be together, enjoying each other’s company ...
But then the media frenzy is what makes this show all the more delicious! I’m part of it, after all. Last night I was glued yet again to my TV and was not disappointed. The highlight for me was Katie Waissel. Here’s my low-down on last night’s performances ...
Paije: A phenomenal voice, but this is clearly a stitch-up: they put him deliberately first, because they know that that is the most vulnerable position, and usually increases the chance of someone being in the bottom two, as they will have faded from memory by the time the phone lines open at the end of the performances. Great vocal, but I can’t help think they’re willing him to go ... they put him first and dress him in pretty outrageous garb that would’ve been in the dustbin even in the Eighties ... I think, sadly, Paije’s time on this show is borrowed. He’s a great performer, but not a popstar.
John: Another stitch-up, because going second is almost as bad as going first. I think they’re willing this one to go too. Great vocal, but this is starting to not mean anything when all the finalists have a ship-shape pair of lungs on them. A performance that was slated by the judges, had some unnecessary smooching from backing dancers in the background ... and a downright silly choice of hairstyle. Like Paije, his card is also marked.
Rebecca: Vocal of the goosebump variety, she’s really beginning to suit those slow, svelte numbers they’re giving her. Popstar? Maybe a few decades ago ...
TreyC: Unfortunately I was distracted during this performance so I can’t really comment, although maybe the fact I was distracted wasn’t a good sign. I think she’s a great singer but she looks too like Alexandra and Leona in genre ... I think the job vacancy she’s going for is already filled.
Wagner: Where do I begin! Seems a lovely man, but absolutely bonkers. We also might as well start naming him the Court Jester, because he’s got as much chance of winning as FYD. Sadly for him, he’s part of the X Factor game ... he’s a bit of fun in the early rounds, before it gets serious and it’s Boa Noite for him.
One Direction: The X Factor Cash Cow. You only have to feel the vibe of their popularity everywhere to know this group won’t just win the competition but will be catapulted to stardom leaving their humble roots way behind them. They’re young, good-looking and have charisma, which basically fills every teenage girl’s criteria. They can sing ok, but to be honest I can’t see that that matters one jot. They’ll put teenage bums on seats, their posters will be everywhere and they bring the pounds rolling in for Mr Cowell. Which means it is small wonder he’s plugging the group as much as he can and realistically is probably already jotting down ideas for their first album. The clear winners by far.
Belle Amie: Poor lasses. If anyone’s going to feel failure due to the success of One Direction, it’s them. The only other group left in Simon’s category, they’re pretty much on the scrapheap already. There’s only room for one group in this town, and One Direction have plumped quite happily for that spot. With Simon plugging them away, his other act Belle Amie don’t stand a chance. OK vocals, they gel a bit, but no-one really knows who they are or their names, or even cares. They’re going tonight.
Mary: I absolutely loved Mary last week, and was really looking forward to this week’s performance. Sadly I was disappointed. I was expecting a powerful belting number, but not one she’d already performed at her first audition. That’s old hat now. The song was fine, the vocals were amazing as always, but it was old news. Come on Mary, show us what you’re made of and bring the house down next week!
Matt: Wow. Wow. WOW. This, along with Katie, was a stellar performance. Who would have thought that him sat there on his own with nothing but his guitar singing Baby One More Time would have worked, but boy did it work! He made the song completely his own and left me spellbound by his performance. A true pro, give the man a record deal NOW!
Aiden: Mmm yeah ok he was good, but his performance is getting a bit samey. For once I agree with Cheryl – I don’t know if I could sit through 22 songs of him twitching like a maniac.
Cher: Another pro. Like Simon said, you would’ve thought she was at one of her own concerts the way she performed. Sexy, sassy and confident to the core, she rocked the place. I only hope the bad press she’s getting doesn’t pull her down.
Katie: The performance of the night!! What an ending to the show, with a jazzy version of the Jungle Book’s King of the Swingers, she jazzed nimbly across the stage in a stunning and cheeky Twenties’ style dress and feathery boa that positively made her look radiant. She looked every inch the popstar as she threw back her head, laughed and jazzed her way through this nifty number. I would pay good money to see that performance again, and many more like it. A true star!!
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Ho ho ho The X FACTOR!!!
I don’t know about you, but I’m already hopelessly addicted to the X Factor already. I initially wasn’t – the first few rounds of auditions get really boring after a while (there’s only so many chronic crooners you can handle in a night) – but by the Judge’s Houses round I was there in my living room, lights down and a cuppa practically glued at my TV in suspense!!
And so it has Really Begun. With the first live show – and subsequent double eviction – already under this season’s belt, the much-famed reality TV singing (well, sometimes!) competition has well and truly got the nation’s tongues a-wagging.
I was really disappointed that Italian Stallion and Full-time Diva Nicolo Festa got the boot. He really didn’t deserve to go. Yeah his performance of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance was predictable and didn’t show off his style or vocals, but what a character we’ve been robbed of, and it’s only the first week! Sadly I can’t say the same about boyband FYD. They were bland and uninteresting for me ... sorry guys, but the public also thought so as well.
I was wondering what Katie Waissel was doing in the bottom 3, apart from being the unfortunate victim of a hate-campaign against her. I also think it’s unfair that Gamu didn’t get through, and yes Katie messed up her audition, but so did Cher and Mary, both of whom are now receiving mostly positive exposure.
Here’s a lowdown of what I though of Saturday’s performances, of the first live shows:
FYD – Good performance, but nothing I wouldn’t find at Butlins.
John – Boring and dated performance, forgettable.
Belle Amie – Work well as a group, but lacking that Zing. Might go the same way as Kandy Rain – I thought they’d go.
Matt Cardle – What fantastic vocals, very emotional performance. He just needs to stop closing his eyes and hunching over when he sings.
Mary Byrne- THE best performance of the night for me. As people have remarked, she looked like a true pro and as though she’d been doing it for years. Emotion and powerful vocals – stunning. Let’s just hope she hasn’t peaked too early ... she might have a tough time topping her own performance this week.
Treyc – Great vocals, and quite a nice performance, but I don’t see any character there. Did she get through just because she was last performing and fresh in viewers’ minds
Diva Fever – camp, sparkly and utterly outrageous, darlings!! Everything I would’ve expected from the glittery duo, although not sure if it’s so much recording material as gay pride performance!
Rebecca – she looked stunning and sang the song quite well, but was really let down by the song choice (not really her) and wandered a bit aimlessly and awkwardly around the stage. Come on Cheyl, give her a slow song where she sings sveltely on the spot and gazes into the camera with those lovely big brown eyes!!
Aiden – At first I thought he looked like a crazed convict with his very, very emotional performance on the funny white chair on a podium, but on the whole this was on a par with a professional recording artist. He just needs to show us more character now to go with it ... and of course, like the other good performer of the night, Mary, needs to beat himself this week.
Storm – A+ for effort, but I have to admit Simon Cowell was right – he did look like a failed rock star. Or put better, he looked like he was a former rock star who was doing a Greatest Hits concert. Looked good but not sure if it’ll translate into actual pounds rolling in
Cher – up in the top three with Aiden and Mary. So confident, so flawless, she had real Presence, a bit like a cross between Cheryl Cole and Madonna. I have a feeling this is just the start for this lady as well, not to mention the enormous amount of press coverage she’s receiving about her weight!
One Direction – I think these guys have the potential to be really popular. They’re good-looking, young (and I mean proper boy-band young, i.e. 16, 17, 18, not early to late twenties), and there’s a gap in the market for someone like them, although The already established Wanted are dangerously close to it. We haven’t had a massive boyband round here since the days of Take That and Westlife. The only other danger is of course that they were thrown together a few weeks ago and have so far racked up a massive ... two performances. I’ve heard they don’t get on, which is half evident from their body language sometimes. But if they can get their differences behind them, they’ll have Coutts bank accounts before they hit 20.
Paije – Vocally really something, but performance-wise, he wandered round the stage like a lost soul on a dark night. The 80s jacket and hairstyle didn’t help either. Needs to seriously re-invent if he wants to go all the way.
Wagner – the token Joke Act. Seems a very nice man, but I can’t see him selling records anytime soon!
Katie – she looked nervous but gave a good performance, if a little whacky and trying too hard with the outrageous costume. Lady Gaga is already out there doing that, so maybe she needs to rethink ...
Nicolo – Oh how I wish he’d stayed! But the British Public decided otherwise, and to be fair with good reason. A generic, predictable song and style, although I think it was the sunglasses that really did it. I think rap-artists are the only people who can get away with sunglasses (because they never usually take them off elsewhere). We needed to see eye contact, Nicolo, and what a shame for you and us that we didn’t get it!
So there you have it – 2 down, 13 to go. Roll on Saturday, I’m already getting the popcorn in!
And so it has Really Begun. With the first live show – and subsequent double eviction – already under this season’s belt, the much-famed reality TV singing (well, sometimes!) competition has well and truly got the nation’s tongues a-wagging.
I was really disappointed that Italian Stallion and Full-time Diva Nicolo Festa got the boot. He really didn’t deserve to go. Yeah his performance of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance was predictable and didn’t show off his style or vocals, but what a character we’ve been robbed of, and it’s only the first week! Sadly I can’t say the same about boyband FYD. They were bland and uninteresting for me ... sorry guys, but the public also thought so as well.
I was wondering what Katie Waissel was doing in the bottom 3, apart from being the unfortunate victim of a hate-campaign against her. I also think it’s unfair that Gamu didn’t get through, and yes Katie messed up her audition, but so did Cher and Mary, both of whom are now receiving mostly positive exposure.
Here’s a lowdown of what I though of Saturday’s performances, of the first live shows:
FYD – Good performance, but nothing I wouldn’t find at Butlins.
John – Boring and dated performance, forgettable.
Belle Amie – Work well as a group, but lacking that Zing. Might go the same way as Kandy Rain – I thought they’d go.
Matt Cardle – What fantastic vocals, very emotional performance. He just needs to stop closing his eyes and hunching over when he sings.
Mary Byrne- THE best performance of the night for me. As people have remarked, she looked like a true pro and as though she’d been doing it for years. Emotion and powerful vocals – stunning. Let’s just hope she hasn’t peaked too early ... she might have a tough time topping her own performance this week.
Treyc – Great vocals, and quite a nice performance, but I don’t see any character there. Did she get through just because she was last performing and fresh in viewers’ minds
Diva Fever – camp, sparkly and utterly outrageous, darlings!! Everything I would’ve expected from the glittery duo, although not sure if it’s so much recording material as gay pride performance!
Rebecca – she looked stunning and sang the song quite well, but was really let down by the song choice (not really her) and wandered a bit aimlessly and awkwardly around the stage. Come on Cheyl, give her a slow song where she sings sveltely on the spot and gazes into the camera with those lovely big brown eyes!!
Aiden – At first I thought he looked like a crazed convict with his very, very emotional performance on the funny white chair on a podium, but on the whole this was on a par with a professional recording artist. He just needs to show us more character now to go with it ... and of course, like the other good performer of the night, Mary, needs to beat himself this week.
Storm – A+ for effort, but I have to admit Simon Cowell was right – he did look like a failed rock star. Or put better, he looked like he was a former rock star who was doing a Greatest Hits concert. Looked good but not sure if it’ll translate into actual pounds rolling in
Cher – up in the top three with Aiden and Mary. So confident, so flawless, she had real Presence, a bit like a cross between Cheryl Cole and Madonna. I have a feeling this is just the start for this lady as well, not to mention the enormous amount of press coverage she’s receiving about her weight!
One Direction – I think these guys have the potential to be really popular. They’re good-looking, young (and I mean proper boy-band young, i.e. 16, 17, 18, not early to late twenties), and there’s a gap in the market for someone like them, although The already established Wanted are dangerously close to it. We haven’t had a massive boyband round here since the days of Take That and Westlife. The only other danger is of course that they were thrown together a few weeks ago and have so far racked up a massive ... two performances. I’ve heard they don’t get on, which is half evident from their body language sometimes. But if they can get their differences behind them, they’ll have Coutts bank accounts before they hit 20.
Paije – Vocally really something, but performance-wise, he wandered round the stage like a lost soul on a dark night. The 80s jacket and hairstyle didn’t help either. Needs to seriously re-invent if he wants to go all the way.
Wagner – the token Joke Act. Seems a very nice man, but I can’t see him selling records anytime soon!
Katie – she looked nervous but gave a good performance, if a little whacky and trying too hard with the outrageous costume. Lady Gaga is already out there doing that, so maybe she needs to rethink ...
Nicolo – Oh how I wish he’d stayed! But the British Public decided otherwise, and to be fair with good reason. A generic, predictable song and style, although I think it was the sunglasses that really did it. I think rap-artists are the only people who can get away with sunglasses (because they never usually take them off elsewhere). We needed to see eye contact, Nicolo, and what a shame for you and us that we didn’t get it!
So there you have it – 2 down, 13 to go. Roll on Saturday, I’m already getting the popcorn in!
Wednesday 4 August 2010
Joe McElderry coming out ....
It came as news – or old news to come – a few days ago that little Joe McElderry, of X Factor winner fame, has recently come out as gay.
I applaud Joe for being so brave about coming out and being himself in public. I personally suspected a long, long time ago (come on, it was obvious!), when Joe was still belting his heart out on the X Factor, probably before Joe himself knew. I think we all suspected, deep down!
There is the cynical side of me that does think it could be part of a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt. After all, it has got him a LOT of media attention and many A-listers are checking in on him sending their messages of support. And with the new X factor 2011 just weeks away, you can’t help but wonder if it’s a little too coincidental that all of a sudden Joe has realised he was gay after the mysterious hacking of his twitter account, within such a short space of time and in the run-up to his releasing his debut album ...
But maybe I’m being too cynical. Admitting you are gay is an extremely difficult thing to do anyhow, let alone for someone as much in the public eye as he is, and to be honest when his career isn’t even forged yet he was taking a huge risk.
No, I have no doubt that Joe was simply coming to terms with being himself and knew he was going to be outed sooner or later, and chose to tell his fans himself.
It’s refreshing to see someone as young and bold as Joe do this, because it shows times are changing and people who are gay no longer are feeling compelled to live a lie. In the past, movie stars like Rock Hudson or rugby player Gareth Thomas spent their whole careers hiding their sexuality their sexuality was only revealed to the world once they had been firmly established.
Good on you, Joe – for not being afraid to be yourself.
I applaud Joe for being so brave about coming out and being himself in public. I personally suspected a long, long time ago (come on, it was obvious!), when Joe was still belting his heart out on the X Factor, probably before Joe himself knew. I think we all suspected, deep down!
There is the cynical side of me that does think it could be part of a carefully orchestrated publicity stunt. After all, it has got him a LOT of media attention and many A-listers are checking in on him sending their messages of support. And with the new X factor 2011 just weeks away, you can’t help but wonder if it’s a little too coincidental that all of a sudden Joe has realised he was gay after the mysterious hacking of his twitter account, within such a short space of time and in the run-up to his releasing his debut album ...
But maybe I’m being too cynical. Admitting you are gay is an extremely difficult thing to do anyhow, let alone for someone as much in the public eye as he is, and to be honest when his career isn’t even forged yet he was taking a huge risk.
No, I have no doubt that Joe was simply coming to terms with being himself and knew he was going to be outed sooner or later, and chose to tell his fans himself.
It’s refreshing to see someone as young and bold as Joe do this, because it shows times are changing and people who are gay no longer are feeling compelled to live a lie. In the past, movie stars like Rock Hudson or rugby player Gareth Thomas spent their whole careers hiding their sexuality their sexuality was only revealed to the world once they had been firmly established.
Good on you, Joe – for not being afraid to be yourself.
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Junior Apprentice: Adam & The Cats
I have yet again just managed to un-glue myself from the latest episode of “Junior Apprentice”, and what an episode it was!!!
Leaving last week’s cheese-selling task behind them, and again splitting into two teams, girls v. Boys, Lord Sugar now set them the next mountain to climb: come up with, design and successfully pitch a piece of original camping equipment to three different retailers, and the team with the most orders at the end of the day wins. Simple. Well, not quite...
To start with Lord Sugar threw an immediate cat amongst the pigeons, for no sooner had the girls and boys split into two teams and chosen their leaders in Hannah and, Adam respectively did Lord S promptly switch each team’s project manager. Thus, the girls Emma, Zoe, Hibah and Kirsty were led by the cheerful Cockney Adam, whilst the boys Arjun, Rhys and Tim were led by the not-thus-far-seen-much-of Hannah.
I was apprehensive at first of Hannah as a team leader, and thought she would fall at the first hurdle, but she proved quite adept – she took control, managed her team well and acted decisively, even if it was the over-enthusiastic-having-survived-last-week’s-firing-by-the-skin-of-his-teeth Tim who came up with the majority of the ideas. After a lot of suggesting, they settled on sledge-trolley hybrid, a piece of camping equipment designed to ease the hauling of your other camping equipment from car to tent, particularly useful, as Tim was keen to point out, at muddy-terrain festivals such as Glastonbury.
The biggest shock of the evening was in Adam, who I from last week I had sketched out in my mind as a strong and focussed if cheerful leader, but (perhaps understandably), when confronted with leading a team-full of the most carnivorous girls in young enterprise seemed to shrink away from being a strong and confident cheeky chappy to a flustering, stuttering headless chicken.
It was obvious from the start he was fresh meat for these girls, and they didn’t waste any time in sinking their teeth in. Whilst he enthusiastically waved his arms about trying to generate ideas, he was met with steady and cool female eyes who were casually making up their mind just how to tear him to pieces. Poor Adam was left trying to generate enthusiasm while they started by flippantly throwing criticism his way, accusing him of relying too heavily on them and blatantly openly showing their disrespect for him even through their body language of scowls and sneers (although later on, this turned out not to be true of Emma, who emerged as Adam’s ally). No sooner had Adam split Hebah and Zoe off to conduct market research than it emerged that these two girls were the most flesh-hungry, and, instead of supporting their project manager, began sniping away in the back of their chauffeured car. It was ironic that these two girls of all people should have allied themselves as bitching buddies, because only last week Zoe had caused Hebah, then project manager, to sob in the marketplace by overruling her whilst doing a sale. At the actual focus group itself the girls wasted no time in pushing Hebah’s idea of a collapsible family board game onto the “researchees”, and having rigged themselves a convenient unanimous opinion in favour of it, phoned their team leader for “feedback”. The girls turned their wrath onto their team leader, with Zoe declaring condescendingly that “we have had 100% feedback on this idea, and if anything goes wrong it will be your head on the block”. “And”, added Hebah supportively, “you need to make a decision about this, Adam. You’re the team leader!”.
With such playground bullying going on, I felt sorry for poor Adam who only went redder and redder and got more and more flustered. “Erm ... I don’t know if it’s original!!” he stammered. Clearly, this was an example of a genuinely decent guy trying hard not to be completely steamrolled by two girls who were not treating him with the respect that he deserved as their team leader. It was eventually left to Emma to take charge of a phone call to make the final decision of the product and swiftly tell the two cats that there was no time for this sort of thing. Good on her!
In order to try and appease everyone and to not rock the – already rolling – team boat, Adam eventually also chose a hybrid, although of a slightly rarer breed: a reinforced-cardboard-storage-device-with-built-in-tabletop-board-game facility. You couldn’t fault his enthusiasm – he genuinely believed this product would work and was positive to the bitter end - but Hebah and Zoe proved right on this one - in that it was an utter shambles. Even though Adam wisely delegated the pitch to the silver-and-acid-tongued Zoe, who did a marvellous job of promoting a pile of cardboard to some of the biggest retailers in the land, the seasoned commercial buyers were having none of it and in the boardroom it was revealed that not one of them bought a single one. In contrast, Hannah’s team successfully managed to flog over 3,000 of their sledge-trolleys, leaving her team with grins as wide as a Cheshire cat’s.
Then the knives really came out as each member of Adam’s team fought for survival from the firing finger of Lord Sugar. Inevitably, these metaphorical knives were pointed at Adam. “You were weak at the beginning of the task and I expressed that to you, and you didn’t delegate properly on the first day” declared Zoe, nicely covering her own back whilst thrusting her proverbial knife into Adam’s. “And he wasn’t as quick on the decisions as he should have been” added Hebah quickly. “I think he was trying to focus on being a team and looked for reassurance a lot”, chipped in Kirsty, as poor Adam found himself floundering again, trying desperately to defend himself as his team turned even more against him, except for Emma, who blamed the product rather than Adam, which made her a another sitting duck for the other three to heap their blame on. Amidst torrents of “it was such a poor product that Emma came up with, Lord Sugar” and “Adam wasn’t a good team leader, Lord Sugar”, Adam desperately tried to fight his corner. Sly Zoe, however, at the very last moment before Adam was due to announce which two he was bringing back into the board room, suddenly changed tone and was lyrical with praise for her project manager in order to try and save her own skin.“I think it’s so easy to blame the project manager straight away” she gushed, “I don’t think he was that bad, he was very passionate about the product”.
This wasn’t enough, and quite rightly so, for Adam did indeed bring the two felines Zoe and Hebah back with him and into the firing line, at which point it began to look like curtains for him. Flanked by the self-assured girls smirking to themselves, he plunged into overdrive about how passionate he was about business – “I’ve even got the blisters to prove it!” he said, hands spread upwards. It looked as though he was crashing and burning, and it would be only moments before he would be heading for the car home, until Hebah signed her own Apprentice death warrant - “I don’t own a business or make profit, I’m not into all that” she professed, whereupon she might as well have said “I don’t want to work with you, Lord Sugar, because I really can’t be bothered”. She was promptly, albeit regrettably, fired.
Back on their drive home, Zoe couldn’t resist another dig at Adam. “I think Lord Sugar empathises with you and sees himself in you” she said, as she held her nose in the air. This is probably true, but she was likely sour at the fact Lord S doesn’t see himself in her!
To be fair to Zoe and Hebah, they were right about the product, and the games table Hebah had come up with would have trumped up with more sales (“as 0-0-0 isn’t hard to beat”, said Lord Sugar). But the girls had such contempt for Adam from the start that I doubt even the most talented project manager would have been able to control them. I am glad Adam stayed. In this task he lost his head as team leader, but he is so likeable and has such a successful business elsewhere that can’t be him all of the time. Besides, a workman is only as good as his tools, as the saying goes, and Adam definitely had a few malignant spanners in the works.
Leaving last week’s cheese-selling task behind them, and again splitting into two teams, girls v. Boys, Lord Sugar now set them the next mountain to climb: come up with, design and successfully pitch a piece of original camping equipment to three different retailers, and the team with the most orders at the end of the day wins. Simple. Well, not quite...
To start with Lord Sugar threw an immediate cat amongst the pigeons, for no sooner had the girls and boys split into two teams and chosen their leaders in Hannah and, Adam respectively did Lord S promptly switch each team’s project manager. Thus, the girls Emma, Zoe, Hibah and Kirsty were led by the cheerful Cockney Adam, whilst the boys Arjun, Rhys and Tim were led by the not-thus-far-seen-much-of Hannah.
I was apprehensive at first of Hannah as a team leader, and thought she would fall at the first hurdle, but she proved quite adept – she took control, managed her team well and acted decisively, even if it was the over-enthusiastic-having-survived-last-week’s-firing-by-the-skin-of-his-teeth Tim who came up with the majority of the ideas. After a lot of suggesting, they settled on sledge-trolley hybrid, a piece of camping equipment designed to ease the hauling of your other camping equipment from car to tent, particularly useful, as Tim was keen to point out, at muddy-terrain festivals such as Glastonbury.
The biggest shock of the evening was in Adam, who I from last week I had sketched out in my mind as a strong and focussed if cheerful leader, but (perhaps understandably), when confronted with leading a team-full of the most carnivorous girls in young enterprise seemed to shrink away from being a strong and confident cheeky chappy to a flustering, stuttering headless chicken.
It was obvious from the start he was fresh meat for these girls, and they didn’t waste any time in sinking their teeth in. Whilst he enthusiastically waved his arms about trying to generate ideas, he was met with steady and cool female eyes who were casually making up their mind just how to tear him to pieces. Poor Adam was left trying to generate enthusiasm while they started by flippantly throwing criticism his way, accusing him of relying too heavily on them and blatantly openly showing their disrespect for him even through their body language of scowls and sneers (although later on, this turned out not to be true of Emma, who emerged as Adam’s ally). No sooner had Adam split Hebah and Zoe off to conduct market research than it emerged that these two girls were the most flesh-hungry, and, instead of supporting their project manager, began sniping away in the back of their chauffeured car. It was ironic that these two girls of all people should have allied themselves as bitching buddies, because only last week Zoe had caused Hebah, then project manager, to sob in the marketplace by overruling her whilst doing a sale. At the actual focus group itself the girls wasted no time in pushing Hebah’s idea of a collapsible family board game onto the “researchees”, and having rigged themselves a convenient unanimous opinion in favour of it, phoned their team leader for “feedback”. The girls turned their wrath onto their team leader, with Zoe declaring condescendingly that “we have had 100% feedback on this idea, and if anything goes wrong it will be your head on the block”. “And”, added Hebah supportively, “you need to make a decision about this, Adam. You’re the team leader!”.
With such playground bullying going on, I felt sorry for poor Adam who only went redder and redder and got more and more flustered. “Erm ... I don’t know if it’s original!!” he stammered. Clearly, this was an example of a genuinely decent guy trying hard not to be completely steamrolled by two girls who were not treating him with the respect that he deserved as their team leader. It was eventually left to Emma to take charge of a phone call to make the final decision of the product and swiftly tell the two cats that there was no time for this sort of thing. Good on her!
In order to try and appease everyone and to not rock the – already rolling – team boat, Adam eventually also chose a hybrid, although of a slightly rarer breed: a reinforced-cardboard-storage-device-with-built-in-tabletop-board-game facility. You couldn’t fault his enthusiasm – he genuinely believed this product would work and was positive to the bitter end - but Hebah and Zoe proved right on this one - in that it was an utter shambles. Even though Adam wisely delegated the pitch to the silver-and-acid-tongued Zoe, who did a marvellous job of promoting a pile of cardboard to some of the biggest retailers in the land, the seasoned commercial buyers were having none of it and in the boardroom it was revealed that not one of them bought a single one. In contrast, Hannah’s team successfully managed to flog over 3,000 of their sledge-trolleys, leaving her team with grins as wide as a Cheshire cat’s.
Then the knives really came out as each member of Adam’s team fought for survival from the firing finger of Lord Sugar. Inevitably, these metaphorical knives were pointed at Adam. “You were weak at the beginning of the task and I expressed that to you, and you didn’t delegate properly on the first day” declared Zoe, nicely covering her own back whilst thrusting her proverbial knife into Adam’s. “And he wasn’t as quick on the decisions as he should have been” added Hebah quickly. “I think he was trying to focus on being a team and looked for reassurance a lot”, chipped in Kirsty, as poor Adam found himself floundering again, trying desperately to defend himself as his team turned even more against him, except for Emma, who blamed the product rather than Adam, which made her a another sitting duck for the other three to heap their blame on. Amidst torrents of “it was such a poor product that Emma came up with, Lord Sugar” and “Adam wasn’t a good team leader, Lord Sugar”, Adam desperately tried to fight his corner. Sly Zoe, however, at the very last moment before Adam was due to announce which two he was bringing back into the board room, suddenly changed tone and was lyrical with praise for her project manager in order to try and save her own skin.“I think it’s so easy to blame the project manager straight away” she gushed, “I don’t think he was that bad, he was very passionate about the product”.
This wasn’t enough, and quite rightly so, for Adam did indeed bring the two felines Zoe and Hebah back with him and into the firing line, at which point it began to look like curtains for him. Flanked by the self-assured girls smirking to themselves, he plunged into overdrive about how passionate he was about business – “I’ve even got the blisters to prove it!” he said, hands spread upwards. It looked as though he was crashing and burning, and it would be only moments before he would be heading for the car home, until Hebah signed her own Apprentice death warrant - “I don’t own a business or make profit, I’m not into all that” she professed, whereupon she might as well have said “I don’t want to work with you, Lord Sugar, because I really can’t be bothered”. She was promptly, albeit regrettably, fired.
Back on their drive home, Zoe couldn’t resist another dig at Adam. “I think Lord Sugar empathises with you and sees himself in you” she said, as she held her nose in the air. This is probably true, but she was likely sour at the fact Lord S doesn’t see himself in her!
To be fair to Zoe and Hebah, they were right about the product, and the games table Hebah had come up with would have trumped up with more sales (“as 0-0-0 isn’t hard to beat”, said Lord Sugar). But the girls had such contempt for Adam from the start that I doubt even the most talented project manager would have been able to control them. I am glad Adam stayed. In this task he lost his head as team leader, but he is so likeable and has such a successful business elsewhere that can’t be him all of the time. Besides, a workman is only as good as his tools, as the saying goes, and Adam definitely had a few malignant spanners in the works.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
This hung parliament ....
If you live in the UK, you’d literally have to have hidden away from the world in an underground bunker not to know the political rumpus that’s been going on. On 6th May the electorate spoke... and instead of telling parliament who they wanted to run the country, told them instead who they did not want.
The media frenzy that has ensued since has been enough to drive everyone to madness. Not only that, but with just about everybody digging their claws into everyone else at every opportunity, the past week hasn’t exactly been full of optimism.
I myself am quite divided on the matter. The Tories are crowing that they won more seats than any other party, which whilst true, was promptly countered by Labour quoting that a clear majority had decided they did not want a Tory government. So with no-one holding a clear majority, the parties battle it out behind closed doors to try and forge a deal. As I am writing this, it would seem a Con-Lib coalition is the favourite, albeit through gritted teeth for both parties, who are as much like each other as chalk and cheese.
The person I feel really sorry for, however, is Nick Clegg. Caught in the middle of no-man’s land, he would have been damned whichever way he turned. Swiftly gunned down by the electorate and winning just 55 seats for his party the Liberal Democrats (incidentally taking only 9% of parliamentary seats despite having 23% of the vote). Mr Clegg has immediately come under fire from non-Tories for turning to the Tories first, because in his own words, they won more than any other party. Such action, some claim, has led him to act against the principles of his party. But if he had turned to Labour first, he would have been branded as trying to mastermind a “coalition of losers”. And because he has said he would consider more than one option, he is being branded “two-faced” by much of the media.
It seems he lost the election in real terms and actual terms. If he forms a coalition with the Tories it will only be a matter of time before Cameron uses him to make a majority and then quickly spit him out before another general election is hastily called, which Cameron would probably win, citing Labour and LibDem’s incompetence as the root of all evil of this world. If he forms a coalition with Labour, he will be accused of trying to usurp the “true winner”, the Conservatives, despite the fact that the majority of the electorate voted against them, and of course he will be accused of collaborating with Labour, who according to some at the moment have the blood of an economic crisis on their hands. If Clegg does not form a coalition at all, he will have missed his chance to be in government at all, and it’s back to Square One for him.
The real winner in all this is David Cameron. His party won more than any other (which sounds good no matter what spin you put on it), and he has not had thirteen years of governing in which there was a war and an economic recession. With Gordon Brown hated as a “national traitor” and Clegg dismissed as a minority party New Kid on the Block, the shiny-as-a-new-penny Etonian comes out smelling of roses. He has nothing behind him that we could accuse him of, simply because he has no past as Prime Minister. In short, Mr Cameron has a clean slate, and represents a fresh start, which especially after this mess of an election, is what the whole country will breathe a sigh of relief at.
The media frenzy that has ensued since has been enough to drive everyone to madness. Not only that, but with just about everybody digging their claws into everyone else at every opportunity, the past week hasn’t exactly been full of optimism.
I myself am quite divided on the matter. The Tories are crowing that they won more seats than any other party, which whilst true, was promptly countered by Labour quoting that a clear majority had decided they did not want a Tory government. So with no-one holding a clear majority, the parties battle it out behind closed doors to try and forge a deal. As I am writing this, it would seem a Con-Lib coalition is the favourite, albeit through gritted teeth for both parties, who are as much like each other as chalk and cheese.
The person I feel really sorry for, however, is Nick Clegg. Caught in the middle of no-man’s land, he would have been damned whichever way he turned. Swiftly gunned down by the electorate and winning just 55 seats for his party the Liberal Democrats (incidentally taking only 9% of parliamentary seats despite having 23% of the vote). Mr Clegg has immediately come under fire from non-Tories for turning to the Tories first, because in his own words, they won more than any other party. Such action, some claim, has led him to act against the principles of his party. But if he had turned to Labour first, he would have been branded as trying to mastermind a “coalition of losers”. And because he has said he would consider more than one option, he is being branded “two-faced” by much of the media.
It seems he lost the election in real terms and actual terms. If he forms a coalition with the Tories it will only be a matter of time before Cameron uses him to make a majority and then quickly spit him out before another general election is hastily called, which Cameron would probably win, citing Labour and LibDem’s incompetence as the root of all evil of this world. If he forms a coalition with Labour, he will be accused of trying to usurp the “true winner”, the Conservatives, despite the fact that the majority of the electorate voted against them, and of course he will be accused of collaborating with Labour, who according to some at the moment have the blood of an economic crisis on their hands. If Clegg does not form a coalition at all, he will have missed his chance to be in government at all, and it’s back to Square One for him.
The real winner in all this is David Cameron. His party won more than any other (which sounds good no matter what spin you put on it), and he has not had thirteen years of governing in which there was a war and an economic recession. With Gordon Brown hated as a “national traitor” and Clegg dismissed as a minority party New Kid on the Block, the shiny-as-a-new-penny Etonian comes out smelling of roses. He has nothing behind him that we could accuse him of, simply because he has no past as Prime Minister. In short, Mr Cameron has a clean slate, and represents a fresh start, which especially after this mess of an election, is what the whole country will breathe a sigh of relief at.
Monday 10 May 2010
Language learning in the United Kingdom ...
Whenever I go into my local city of Manchester, amid the sights and sounds and smells, I often pass by an enormous billboard decked out in the red and yellow of the Spanish flag, carrying a huge advertisement for the Instituto Cervantes, the official if you will Spanish language and cultural centre in Manchester.
We are fortunate to have such a centre in our city – there are only a handful of others in the UK, namely only in London and Leeds. The centre is funded and supported by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and employs an entirely native Spanish speaking staff. The building itself is located in the city centre, no more than 10 minutes away from the main square. As you go in, the place is divided up into three levels: the ground floor housing the reception team and a large and extensive Spanish-language library, the main – first – floor housing mostly classrooms, but also with more administrative offices, and a couple of large audience halls for cultural events, such as film showings, food tastings, and regular lectures on all aspects of Hispanic culture from cinema, history, literature ... the list goes on. The centre offers regular courses of Spanish made up of twice-weekly 2 hour classes, and ranges from the beginner level to proficiency.
I am all for language learning, and I myself was and continue to be an avid learner of Spanish – so much so I even completed a joint honours degree in the language and spent nine months living in northwest Spain. Language learning can be great fun, and as frustrating as it is annoying. One thing that it is not, is easy. Learning a language – any language, mind – is incredibly difficult. It is not just a question of learning words (that’s considered the easy part), but making these words into phrases and sentences and in turn into entire conversations. Think about how many words we use in English every day. Think about having to learn all that multitude of words over again, each one separately. But then each of these foreign words might have a different meaning altogether as well as the meaning you’ve learned. Or perhaps in a certain phrase it will mean something else. Or perhaps it does just have the one meaning after all. Of course, it works the other way as well – any foreigner who has learnt English will tell you that. Take for instance the verb “to lay”. Lay what? A table? An egg? Lay down? Or should that be lie down? Oh but “lie” is also a verb in its own right. But do we mean lie down or do we mean lie as in to not tell the truth? (and this is without even touching the past and future tenses, let alone the idioms). Knowing this labyrinth of language inside out is a years long, if not decades long, process – knowing how to say your name and ask how many hamsters your friend has in his house is not even touching the bare blocks. People often ask me if I am fluent in Spanish, to which I reply a resounding “No”. There are many different perceptions as to what is “fluent”, but to my mind it would be virtually native status, picking up conversation with a native and it flowing with ease, listening to the radio, television or reading a book and not being caught out by any word, or if you are being caught out by only a very obscure word that even a native could be forgiven for not knowing.
You might want to know exactly why, then, so many people around the world have mastered English so well. Go almost anywhere in the world and at least in major cities, and you will find someone who speaks our tongue. The gentleman at the airport behind the desk will most likely politely greet you and deftly process your tickets without so much batting an eyelid at the pleasant flow of English coming from his mouth. That waitress in the coffee shop will note down your order in the twinkling of an eye and promptly ask you which coffee you would like in your own tongue. That foreign minister will proceed to explain in intricate detail the problems facing his country in an English that might as well have been lifted from the pages of a distinguished economics weekly.
How do they all do it? Are they all masters of disguise, donning their adopted tongue at whim? Well, not exactly. The answer is simple: exposure. Learning any language all depends on the amount and intensity of exposure you have. Watch that news bulletin and learn the word “crisis”. Chat to the lady at the bus-stop and learn how the weather is. Click open the computer and download a torrent of writing or English language songs, of which there are a great many.
The beauty of English for those that are learning it is that it is so accessible. Many of the top songs are in the English language. The BBC has roots and offices everywhere and broadcasts to umpteen number of countries. 80% of internet access is in English. The most taught second language in the world is English. Go anywhere in the world and you will find English just one step away – it is the other language. Once I was on a Dutch plane taking off from Amsterdam bound for Hong Kong, and the pilot and air stewardesses all addressed the passengers in English, and then Dutch when needed. The Dutch air stewardess even explained the safety instructions of the emergency exit myself and two Dutchmen in English. In Barcelona I listened to train announcements in Spanish, Catalan and then English. English is everywhere, and you cannot escape it. Because of this speakers of other languages literally queue up to learn it. As a fairly proficient Spanish speaker myself, many of my so-called native Spanish friends have insisted or lapsed into speaking to me in English. I can count on one hand the amount of foreigners I have met with whom I haven’t been able to communicate (and I can count them because I remember them for not speaking it).
The amount of this English exposure is due to a combination of the influence of the United States and in part the United Kingdom. The world’s biggest film industry? In the United States. American films are often shown in countries such as Norway with the original soundtrack but with say, Norwegian subtitles, and that is how the Norwegians learn. I met a Danish girl once who spoke flawless English with an American accent, and I asked her the secret of her success. “Oh that’s easy”, she replied, “it’s TV. We’d watch American movies and tv all the time when we grew up”. This is corroborated by a Welsh girl I once met, who although of course would have been taught English in school anyhow, confessed that “TV was a big influence”.
Exposure is one thing, and age is another. Put the two together and you have explosive results. Expose a six-year old enough to a language and they’ll pick it up sooner than you can snap your fingers. My brother and his wife lived for a year in Switzerland, where his work took him, and his 5 and 6 year old son and daughter were put into Swiss-German schools and began playing with the local children, and within three months they were word-perfect fluent with strong Swiss-German accents. That is to say, they were naturally bilingual in each language. Such exposure is mimicked in countries where there is a multilingual language policy – in Luxembourg, where there are three national languages (Luxembourgish, German and French), children receive intense language tuition from the word Go. German is the language of instruction in primary schools, with 7 hours of French tuition weekly, until in secondary school French becomes the language of instruction. Luxembourgish, a largely oral language, is spoken at home.
You are unlikely to get this kind of exposure attending night school once weekly learning how to describe your bedroom. That is not to say that these lessons are useless, because they are a start, but from there to fluency is a matter of light-years. Even our standard language tuition incorporated into the national curriculum is sadly too little too late. After five years in the system English pupils can ask in Spanish for a glass of water or say the shower does not work, but are left far behind by their German and Dutch counterparts who by the age of sixteen in English will have virtual professional fluency. Kids these days are taught stock phrases and when to regurgitate them but they do not practise mastering the language and learning how to shape it with a variety of words. They might know how to say “I am” but might not know how to say “you are” or “they were” in a foreign language.
If you want to learn a foreign language, then do, but be clear about the reasons that you are doing it. Will it be worth it? Is it worth the hard work, time and effort? When, if ever, are you going to use this language? Are you going to pick up a novel and begin reading in that language? Or are you just going to ask directions in the streets of Rome? If you really do have a desire to learn a language, then do so properly. Do not settle for one or two hours a week. In short, go and live in the country where it is spoken, for then you will be using and, more importantly, living the language - for a language that is not lived may as well not be spoken. I lived in Spain for 9 months and apart from not becoming nearly as fluent as I had hoped, upon my arrival back in the UK I can find no use for the Spanish I learnt.
The sad truth is that here in the UK, as native English speakers, we simply do not have any need to speak a foreign language. When we already speak the global lingua franca, what other language is left for us to learn? English is the default language between cultures, and it just so happens that it belongs to our own culture. Are you going to start speaking French in a meeting with a Frenchman and a Spaniard? That would rest on the Spaniard knowing French. Would you speak German with a Chinaman and a Peruvian? Of course not. The language that everyone speaks, and with good reason, is English. The United States is the world’s superpower. We have no need to speak to the French or the Germans or the Spanish or to anyone else in their own language because the chances are that they will speak our language far better than we will theirs.
Necessity is the mother of invention, it is often said, and for better or for worse, we have no need to speak any tongue other than that which we already speak.
We are fortunate to have such a centre in our city – there are only a handful of others in the UK, namely only in London and Leeds. The centre is funded and supported by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and employs an entirely native Spanish speaking staff. The building itself is located in the city centre, no more than 10 minutes away from the main square. As you go in, the place is divided up into three levels: the ground floor housing the reception team and a large and extensive Spanish-language library, the main – first – floor housing mostly classrooms, but also with more administrative offices, and a couple of large audience halls for cultural events, such as film showings, food tastings, and regular lectures on all aspects of Hispanic culture from cinema, history, literature ... the list goes on. The centre offers regular courses of Spanish made up of twice-weekly 2 hour classes, and ranges from the beginner level to proficiency.
I am all for language learning, and I myself was and continue to be an avid learner of Spanish – so much so I even completed a joint honours degree in the language and spent nine months living in northwest Spain. Language learning can be great fun, and as frustrating as it is annoying. One thing that it is not, is easy. Learning a language – any language, mind – is incredibly difficult. It is not just a question of learning words (that’s considered the easy part), but making these words into phrases and sentences and in turn into entire conversations. Think about how many words we use in English every day. Think about having to learn all that multitude of words over again, each one separately. But then each of these foreign words might have a different meaning altogether as well as the meaning you’ve learned. Or perhaps in a certain phrase it will mean something else. Or perhaps it does just have the one meaning after all. Of course, it works the other way as well – any foreigner who has learnt English will tell you that. Take for instance the verb “to lay”. Lay what? A table? An egg? Lay down? Or should that be lie down? Oh but “lie” is also a verb in its own right. But do we mean lie down or do we mean lie as in to not tell the truth? (and this is without even touching the past and future tenses, let alone the idioms). Knowing this labyrinth of language inside out is a years long, if not decades long, process – knowing how to say your name and ask how many hamsters your friend has in his house is not even touching the bare blocks. People often ask me if I am fluent in Spanish, to which I reply a resounding “No”. There are many different perceptions as to what is “fluent”, but to my mind it would be virtually native status, picking up conversation with a native and it flowing with ease, listening to the radio, television or reading a book and not being caught out by any word, or if you are being caught out by only a very obscure word that even a native could be forgiven for not knowing.
You might want to know exactly why, then, so many people around the world have mastered English so well. Go almost anywhere in the world and at least in major cities, and you will find someone who speaks our tongue. The gentleman at the airport behind the desk will most likely politely greet you and deftly process your tickets without so much batting an eyelid at the pleasant flow of English coming from his mouth. That waitress in the coffee shop will note down your order in the twinkling of an eye and promptly ask you which coffee you would like in your own tongue. That foreign minister will proceed to explain in intricate detail the problems facing his country in an English that might as well have been lifted from the pages of a distinguished economics weekly.
How do they all do it? Are they all masters of disguise, donning their adopted tongue at whim? Well, not exactly. The answer is simple: exposure. Learning any language all depends on the amount and intensity of exposure you have. Watch that news bulletin and learn the word “crisis”. Chat to the lady at the bus-stop and learn how the weather is. Click open the computer and download a torrent of writing or English language songs, of which there are a great many.
The beauty of English for those that are learning it is that it is so accessible. Many of the top songs are in the English language. The BBC has roots and offices everywhere and broadcasts to umpteen number of countries. 80% of internet access is in English. The most taught second language in the world is English. Go anywhere in the world and you will find English just one step away – it is the other language. Once I was on a Dutch plane taking off from Amsterdam bound for Hong Kong, and the pilot and air stewardesses all addressed the passengers in English, and then Dutch when needed. The Dutch air stewardess even explained the safety instructions of the emergency exit myself and two Dutchmen in English. In Barcelona I listened to train announcements in Spanish, Catalan and then English. English is everywhere, and you cannot escape it. Because of this speakers of other languages literally queue up to learn it. As a fairly proficient Spanish speaker myself, many of my so-called native Spanish friends have insisted or lapsed into speaking to me in English. I can count on one hand the amount of foreigners I have met with whom I haven’t been able to communicate (and I can count them because I remember them for not speaking it).
The amount of this English exposure is due to a combination of the influence of the United States and in part the United Kingdom. The world’s biggest film industry? In the United States. American films are often shown in countries such as Norway with the original soundtrack but with say, Norwegian subtitles, and that is how the Norwegians learn. I met a Danish girl once who spoke flawless English with an American accent, and I asked her the secret of her success. “Oh that’s easy”, she replied, “it’s TV. We’d watch American movies and tv all the time when we grew up”. This is corroborated by a Welsh girl I once met, who although of course would have been taught English in school anyhow, confessed that “TV was a big influence”.
Exposure is one thing, and age is another. Put the two together and you have explosive results. Expose a six-year old enough to a language and they’ll pick it up sooner than you can snap your fingers. My brother and his wife lived for a year in Switzerland, where his work took him, and his 5 and 6 year old son and daughter were put into Swiss-German schools and began playing with the local children, and within three months they were word-perfect fluent with strong Swiss-German accents. That is to say, they were naturally bilingual in each language. Such exposure is mimicked in countries where there is a multilingual language policy – in Luxembourg, where there are three national languages (Luxembourgish, German and French), children receive intense language tuition from the word Go. German is the language of instruction in primary schools, with 7 hours of French tuition weekly, until in secondary school French becomes the language of instruction. Luxembourgish, a largely oral language, is spoken at home.
You are unlikely to get this kind of exposure attending night school once weekly learning how to describe your bedroom. That is not to say that these lessons are useless, because they are a start, but from there to fluency is a matter of light-years. Even our standard language tuition incorporated into the national curriculum is sadly too little too late. After five years in the system English pupils can ask in Spanish for a glass of water or say the shower does not work, but are left far behind by their German and Dutch counterparts who by the age of sixteen in English will have virtual professional fluency. Kids these days are taught stock phrases and when to regurgitate them but they do not practise mastering the language and learning how to shape it with a variety of words. They might know how to say “I am” but might not know how to say “you are” or “they were” in a foreign language.
If you want to learn a foreign language, then do, but be clear about the reasons that you are doing it. Will it be worth it? Is it worth the hard work, time and effort? When, if ever, are you going to use this language? Are you going to pick up a novel and begin reading in that language? Or are you just going to ask directions in the streets of Rome? If you really do have a desire to learn a language, then do so properly. Do not settle for one or two hours a week. In short, go and live in the country where it is spoken, for then you will be using and, more importantly, living the language - for a language that is not lived may as well not be spoken. I lived in Spain for 9 months and apart from not becoming nearly as fluent as I had hoped, upon my arrival back in the UK I can find no use for the Spanish I learnt.
The sad truth is that here in the UK, as native English speakers, we simply do not have any need to speak a foreign language. When we already speak the global lingua franca, what other language is left for us to learn? English is the default language between cultures, and it just so happens that it belongs to our own culture. Are you going to start speaking French in a meeting with a Frenchman and a Spaniard? That would rest on the Spaniard knowing French. Would you speak German with a Chinaman and a Peruvian? Of course not. The language that everyone speaks, and with good reason, is English. The United States is the world’s superpower. We have no need to speak to the French or the Germans or the Spanish or to anyone else in their own language because the chances are that they will speak our language far better than we will theirs.
Necessity is the mother of invention, it is often said, and for better or for worse, we have no need to speak any tongue other than that which we already speak.
Welcome to my blog
Hi there!!
I am a twenty-something aspiring journalist based in Manchester, in the North of the UK, and I thought I'd create a blog so I can share my thoughts and views on the daily and not-so-daily happenings of the world and the things going on in it.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I will writing it :)
James
I am a twenty-something aspiring journalist based in Manchester, in the North of the UK, and I thought I'd create a blog so I can share my thoughts and views on the daily and not-so-daily happenings of the world and the things going on in it.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I will writing it :)
James
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