I watched The X-Factor tonight and for once didn’t immediately want to rip my eyeballs out and fling them at the TV. I’m not entirely sure of the precise reasons for this, as the tried and tested formula for the show — including the overuse of Carmina Burrana — is present and correct. But I think it can almost entirely be attributed to Simon Cowell.
For many people, Simon Cowell was The X-Factor. His cynical, rude, petty observations masquerading as “feedback” were the main reason many people watched the show. His boorishness and arrogance was perversely appealing; he became an anti-hero, a person people loved to hate.
But now he’s no more; the panel is now made up of Louis Walsh (wishy washy as ever); Tulisa from N-Dubz (arguably the only one from that particular outfit to have any vague talent and even if she doesn’t is at least semi-hot); Kelly Rowland (American); and Gary Barlow. It’s a lineup made up almost entirely of recording artists rather than record execs, and that gives it a different feeling altogether. While it’s easy to be cynical about the pop fluff that Tulisa, Rowland and Barlow have ejaculated from their vocal cords, they’ve experienced the business firsthand and are musicians — or at least performers. The feedback they’ll be able to offer the prospective stars, then, will be of a different type to that from record execs who always have one eye on the bottom line. Possibly, anyway.
The audition phase — which now inexplicably takes place in front of a massive audience — also seems to have been toned down somewhat, even if its presentation is somewhat more bombastic. By that I mean there’s less focus on the “wacky” failures and a little more in the way of people with actual talent. Sure, part of the appeal of the auditions phase is to see people make a tit of themselves, but that whole shtick — much like Cowell’s “Mr Nasty” approach — has been getting old for some time, so this slight shift in formula makes the programme feel pleasingly fresh. If it’s enough to make me stomach a whole episode without wanting to inflict bodily injuries on myself and everyone around me, they’re doing something right.
I can’t say for sure if the changes are enough to make me want to sit and watch the whole series — particularly the interminable series of live shows which seem to go on forever towards the end of each run — but I’m certainly a lot more willing to give this televisual candyfloss the time of day than I ever have before. I might feel differently as soon as the usual “audience booing anything they believe to be ‘unfair’ negative feedback even when it’s perfectly correct” nonsense starts again; but for now, it’s vaguely enjoyable, inoffensive fluff. And that, certainly, is a considerable degree of progress over what I’ve thought of the series in the past.
