Last night we watched the final of Britain’s Got Talent. In my defense I only watched it because Amy wanted to. Over the last few weeks she’s become quite the fan of the show, although she has tended to only watch it when she’s sleeping over at her grandparents house as they are a little bit more liberal when it comes to extending bedtimes than we are.
I’m actually quite pleased Amy likes the show so much. One of my perennial rants is about the fact that kids these days (or at least my kids these days) aren’t exposed any types of TV other than that found on Cbeebies, Nick Jr, or Playhouse Disney. If the current trend of DVR’s, TV-on-demand, and box-set television continues then they might even grow up in a world where you only consume programs on TV that you actually want to watch. Back in my day TV shows were there to be suffered through until the program you actually wanted to see came on. Just as life would not be so sweet if it weren’t for death, The Intercepter wouldn’t be half so good if you hadn’t had to sit through Highway and Bullseye to get to it.
Anything I can do to steer Amy and Evan off their diet of specifically targeted kids shows can’t be a bad thing. Even if it does involve watching the insufferably smug Piers Morgan, a man who I would quite happily give a resounding punch up the bracket should I ever meet him in the street.
So last night we watched the final of Britain’s got talent. We even voted. Twice! Amy wanted to go for Hollie Steel, because she was: a) A girl, and b) sometimes wore pink. I myself went for the dance troupe Diversity. Not particularly for the dancing, which granted was excellent as you’d expect for a final, but for the choreography which was superb and massively creative. I’m not the biggest fan of dance, and am very reluctant to actually pay to see it. All the live shows I’ve seen have had some sort of added value to them (Stomp: drumming, Carnival Messiah: Caribbean Music, and Angelena Ballerina: the happiness of a 5 year old girl). But I’d definitely pay to see those guys. They put both Transformers and Superman in their dance routine for goodness sake, you can’t get much better than that.
Diversity won the show, quite rightly too. Internet sensation Susan Doyle (or Mad Eye Moody as I like to call her) came second. According to the mighty Wikipedia she lost by only 329 votes, which seems bloody close to me and I’m not sure how reliable that figure is. The whole cafuffle over Boyle has been both irritating and patronizing. The way that the program makers attempted to manipulate the audience in the initial introductory sequence as she came on stage was both blatant and crude. Oh look, here come a slightly odd looking overweight middle aged woman. There’s no way she could possibly have any talent at all because she isn’t good looking. Lets all laugh at the funny ugly looking woman…
Oh my god she can sing!! The ugly woman can sing!! How can this be? Surely only young attractive people have vocal chords arranged in a way which makes them capable of producing a pleasant noise? The universe has been turned on it’s head! The world will never be the same again!
Fuckers.
Sure she can sing, but I’ve heard better. And, while I hope I’m wrong, I suspect she’s regretting ever signing up for the auditions of the show. From the few stories I’ve absorbed on the periphery of my awareness it seems that she’s not handling the attention very well. And there’s nothing the British press like more than building someone up and then tearing them back down again. Poor old Susan Boyle has been cynically exploited, and I hope the bastards who did it to her one day get their comeuppance,
Anyway, here’s the video of Diversity’s winning performance.
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on May 31st, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Avitables last blog post..My review of Drag Me To Hell (Spoiler Free)
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on May 31st, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Very true what you say about telly though, I can’t remember the last time I sat down just ‘to watch telly’, whatever may come on.
I was plugging for Diversity too I must say.
Xbox4NappyRashs last blog post..Simmer, then bring to the boil
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on May 31st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Amanda Janes last blog post..Great Grandmother Layout
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on May 31st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I have spared myself from the dross of BGT. A dance group? Give me a break. Mind, I’ve become a self righteous TV snob of late. I even had a pop at my mother’s soap watching last week.
So perhaps I should keep my typing to myself.
SingleParentDads last blog post..A Video Explanation (of sorts)
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on May 31st, 2009 at 9:51 pm
I’ll agree with you that the Diversity choreographer had more talent than anyone. They were fun to watch, and my kids asked to watch them twice. Flawless were fun too.
I was kind of hoping Stavros Flatley would win just because that would show what a joke these sorts of talent shows really are.
As for Susan Boyle, I hope she makes some nice money out of this experience and then retires happily back to her cat. She endeared herself to me not by her singing but by her quoting Fawlty Towers in the semifinals.
Idaho Dads last blog post..Bank Laughs
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on Jun 1st, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Hi Dan,
Just found your site. I’m embarking on a similar lifestyle. I’ll come back again soon.
All the best,
Drake
Drakes last blog post..Baby names: Drake needs your help!
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on Jun 1st, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I suppose you’ve seen the news today that Susan Boyle had a breakdown and is now in The Priory? I guess fame just aint all it’s cracked up to be!
Penelopes last blog post..Smokin’ hot!
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on Jun 1st, 2009 at 8:13 pm
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on Jun 1st, 2009 at 8:13 pm
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on Jun 1st, 2009 at 11:33 pm
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on Jun 2nd, 2009 at 7:42 am
Anyway, at least my video links worked ;)
Garys last blog post..Greg Mulholland – top bloke
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on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 3:59 am
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on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Xbox – It’s been years since I’ve just watched TV passively. The trend for audiences seeing out shows that they want to watch is behind ITV’s failure I think.
Amanda – Exactly.
SingleParentDad – Dance has a lot going for it. It may be a bit populist, but I challenge you to go watch Stomp and not enjoy yourself.
Idaho Dad – I almost voted for Stavros Flatley, but was a little uncomfortable about them using the fat kid as a source of humour.
Drake – You sir are a spammer.
Penelope – I’d love to know what exactly has gone on, proffessionaly speaking of course. sounds like she’s had some kind of psychotic episode from the bits I’ve heard.
Tim – the one with the grandad I think was probably old enough, but the other kids I agree were definately being exploited. Especially the Stavros Flatly kid who I imagine is going to have a hard time living his appearance down at school i should imagine. Essentially the joke boiled down to “look at the fat kids belly wobbling”
Jo – Wow, hate mail as a child? You certainly were advanced. I demand a post about it on your blog.
Gary – I apologize for not leaping to your defense, I must have read your post before you started getting comments on it. And my vid works for me.
James – Exceptionally bad taste, and I’m surprised more people didn’t see through it. Although I imagine most did but it’s the direction the press goes in which often appears to be the way popular opinion flows, even if in reality most people have the opposite view.
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on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Garys last blog post..Dobermans Sister
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