Rage Against the X Factor

[DannySoisSage]

'And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control'

They weren't wrong!

[johninblack]

So, which herd of sheep won, the pop/Cowell herd or the metalhead herd, either way I can't help but feel that the only real winner  is me, I didn't get either.

[Jem]

So, which herd of sheep won, the pop/Cowell herd or the metalhead herd, either way I can't help but feel that the only real winner  is me, I didn't get either.

Make that 2. I didn't either.

[mark_kennedy]

Sony must be laughing all the way to the bank ;-)

For my part, I just get annoyed at all this looking down your nose, mass produced pap, not real music accusations that get bandied about, think it's hugely unfair to the producers, writers, behind the scenes musicians etc, that put this stuff together.

Plus I *like* cheesy pop, give me Girls Aloud over bloody Transatlantic (for instance) any day.

[Bert]

So, which herd of sheep won, the pop/Cowell herd or the metalhead herd, either way I can't help but feel that the only real winner  is me, I didn't get either.

Make that 2. I didn't either.

Ditto

[LivingForever]

As I said on Facebook last night, I think Sony should employ the people who made songs on their labels numbers 1&2 in the Xmas charts, in their marketing department...

I bet they didn't think THAT one through.

[Dave M]

Certainly Sony will be overjoyed ... top Christmas party at their place this year !

Poor little Joe gets the backlash, still ... number 2 aint bad for your first single is it ?

I saw an excellent post on the BBC, the gist of it was that the moment Cowell had the opportunity but decided NOT to kick Jedward out was the moment the show lost it's credibility (as a singing contest) as they clearly had no discernable musical tallent whatsoever !

For me, those 2 made a joke of it, I usually love watching the show with my kids (particularly the auditions for the deluded  .. sorry, my bad), but I just couldnt stand them, nor understand on why they would want them in the show, other than to make contentious TV .. so I guess they succeeded .... on that basis, the backlash should be no surprise to SC and his team.  

Still, I shouldnt think he cares a jot, he's probably back in LA counting his piles of cash .. the lucky bleeder !  :mrgreen:

[DueyC]

So, which herd of sheep won, the pop/Cowell herd or the metalhead herd, either way I can't help but feel that the only real winner  is me, I didn't get either.

Make that 2. I didn't either.

Ditto

That's 4 of us then  :lol:

[The Cosmic Lawnmower]

No mention here of the fact the RATM campaign has raised £79,634.17 for the Shelter charity so far, and that the band themselves are donating their proceeds from the sales to the charity.

They've also promised to play a free UK gig as a thanks to those that joined in with the campaign.

I joined the metalherd for this one and to be honest I'm pleased with the outcome.

Right off to listen to some Transatlantic now  

[Trapezium Artist]

Doesn't Cowell still work for Sony BMG in some capacity and have offices in their offices, so to speak? If so, he's quids in either way and any critical noises he made about the RATM campaign were surely calculated in order to raise the sales of both sides in a competition.

But at the risk of coming across as a Scrooge or Grinch at the wrong time of year, I'm afraid that I usually leave the room when my family turn on X-Factor or (more to my children's taste) Strictly. I'm so utterly exhausted by the desperately fake joy, drama, tension, and struggle against made-up adversity that defines these shows, and if I hear the word "journey" again, I shall scream ...

Cowell's a very clever man and knows precisely what he's doing in order to make money off semi-talented wannabees, while exploiting their needs and those of the crisp-munching herd, a cynical media, and sophisticated computer toys in the studio that (sorry Jem). Not entirely dissimilar to oil companies repositioning themselves hypocritically as greener-than-thou and the cigarette executives now aggressively plying their wares in countries where governments have less spine than in the west.

They may be killing people while Cowell is only killing music, but it's still criminal, IMHO.

[The Cosmic Lawnmower]

I think his Syco (see what he did there) company is part of Sony, not sure if he actually works for Sony itself.

[Dave M]

... the RATM campaign has raised £79,634.17 for the Shelter charity so far, and that the band themselves are donating their proceeds from the sales to the charity....

Well that's certainly worth celebrating isnt it .. hats off to them for that !  

[Mooncat]

Apparently Simon offered the couple that started the campaign jobs at his company - the success of this campaign in terms of marketing is a phenomenal acheivement. The guy that started it all has also said it was as much about bringing the excitement of a battle back for the Xmas number 1 rather than it being a 'rebellion against the Xfactor'. As usual, the media hype and spin it to turn it into a battle of nasty shouty band versus sweet little boy who might cry.

I'm glad it's raised a load of money too. Let's hope the It Bites and Friends single can do a similar job for the people of Cumbria (perhaps we should enlist the RATM facebookers!!!)

[LivingForever]

But enough of all that... here's my X-factor moan.

Joe was crowned winner of the X-Factor (in my opinion) on the basis of having the best voice - he was certainly note perfect live week after week... far more consistent than any of the other contestants.

And then - I hear the version of his single that's been released and Joe's voice has been auto-tuned to within an inch of its life, removing some of the character and making it sound bland and generic.

If there was anyone that didn't need auto-tune, it was him... I wonder if it's the case now that the studios just assume people can't sing that well and automatically apply lashings of effects?

[Trapezium Artist]

That's the problem with things like autotune, IMHO; makes everything sound generic.

Just as a counter-example, of a beautiful natural (please let me be right about this  :shock: ) voice with character, I was very taken with Jim Moray's "Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel" on the BBC Four Sessions Christmas Session on BBC HD last night (//http://www.jimmoray.co.uk/). Never heard of him before, but liked it immediately.

And if you want unaltered a capella perfection, try Kraja; four Swedish girls singing Nordic music in a way that's so completely natural and so (so) far from the world of Cowell ... I heard them on Late Junction back in May and have been in love ever since. The song I heard then (Öland) is available on Last.fm, with others on their Myspace page: //http://www.myspace.com/krajamusic

(I do miss Late Junction since moving from the UK: really need to get around to setting up a script to automatically rip it from iPlayer ...)