I didn’t watch it, but will probably watch it in the next few days. Did anyone see it? Thoughts?
Is the fact that there are still no replies to this an indication that the show wasn’t watched by many dopers?
I did have it on in the background in the hotel room. It seems much like American Idol but not quite as much false drama. I don’t think I saw any mini bios beyond some quick interviews and there were very few heartbreaking stories. They also spent very little time showing joke/fake/shitty auditions. There were a few but not many. Simon Cowell must be trying to change his image or something because he was WAY less abusive of the poor singers and was generally supportive of even the ones that didn’t get through.
I don’t really watch these shows but happened to catch this premiere so theme my thoughts.
It was on in the background. I have to give kudos to the (obviously staged) guy who came on and flashed his junk. Paula pretending to actually get sick and having to run offstage to dry heave at the sight of a penis made me roll my eyes though.
my daughter made me watch it. too, too many manufactured feel good moments. It’s the premiere & they go for the feel of the final few weeks of a competition. doesn’t work for me. and I hate Simon Cowell for looking all engaged and interested when he slept through the last two seasons of Idol he was on, deliberately sabotaging that show. like Idol or not, Simon rode that show to fame and $ and then shit on it. no class.
Didn’t watch it. What I’d like to know, though, is how similar is it to American Idol.
The audition songs are sung in front of a large, live audience instead of a small room with just the judges. I find it odd that these so-called “newbies” all have no problems jumping up on a stage with a live audience of 4,000+. Nary a stage fright jitter. When you consider people were having meltdowns performing just in front of the judges on American Idol, this is quite a difference.
This leads me to suspect the “pre-judging” aspect of the show is more rigorous. I think American Idol would throw in lots of crap, just to be entertaining whereas this show seems to be filtering out more and selecting singers who can start off running. Perhaps these singers have all had more experience (live performances, failed attempts at real music careers) than the average unknown.
There were a few who were indeed quite talented. Still, they insist on reverting to those horrid back stories (my parents have no arms or legs or eyes, my son has 48 diseases unknown to medical science, I lived through 12 natural disasters, my dog has fleas…).
I don’t doubt they will have some higher quality singers, due to the larger pool of talent (pretty much no age limit, and they allow solos singers, duets and groups).
Still, with Simon and Paula, X-Factor is basically American Idol redux, albeit on a a larger stage with a live audience. I believe the plan is, after the first round of auditions, is to then let the judges mentor the finalists and work with them before sending them to further rounds.
At any rate, if you like talent shows this is certainly no worse than the others, but with Simon and Paula on the jury, it does feel like deja vu.
BTW, forgot to mention that this show seems to be wrapping up its first season in December? At least that was what I thought I heard at the beginning, so this will not drag out until May.
and in comparison to Idol, X-Factor seemed far more manufactured and fakey
I was entertained, and I have to say I loved that last guy. He was darling, and he sounded very fresh to me, before the judges commented. I was thinking to myself, this guy has something. But I know junkies, and I’m scared for him.
Paula losing it over the flasher was pathetic…what, honey, you’re 50-something years old and the sight of a flopping penis makes you physically ill? Grow the fuck up already.
This is like Idol blended with America’s Got Talent, which is also Simon Cowwell’s baby. I actually prefer this, and I think the calibre will definitely be higher.
The acapella auditions of Idol screw things up too much, I think…some really interesting and talented people are rejected because they make a bad song choice that doesn’t show them off, and some people who don’t really have it but can fake it pretty good through a particular song get put through. I can pull off sounding pretty good in a very narrow range, but it’s a total illusion, and I think that’s what happens with a lot of those kids who seem impressive in those tiny snippets.
This show gives them a better chance to really demonstrate whether they have it or not. I didn’t watch or listen to any of the setups or descriptions or introductions, I just ff’d straight to the auditions themselves, so I don’t know what the official line about it is, but it seems clear that they are looking for more of a package than Idol is. Idol is just looking for voices, without much regard for anything else, assuming the rest will come.
I only saw the opening before I had to herd kids off to bed, but I picked up that the judges will be mentoring different groups of finalists, which would suggest there is an element of competition between judges à la The Voice. This is a significant departure from the Idol formula and may have something to do with his new 'tude.
So we’re the auditions last night aired live, or we’re they pre-recorded?
Pre-recorded, and with a fourth judge they later dismissed.
We missed the guy but caught the reaction (hey, the season opener of “Modern Family” was on!); I said to my husband, “She got a bad batch of 'ludes.”
I’m still on the fence. I thought they put a lot of people through that I wouldn’t have, and I’m sick to death of the sob story back stories; yeah, you have two kids and you’re a single mom - putting all your hopes for their futures into a singing competition doesn’t make you mother of the year.
I did like the Bobby Brown-like kid; his parents gave him two years for his singing career, then it’s off to college. That makes a helluva lot more sense.
When I got home last night the tail end of the show was running and this was the only performance I saw. When he said he was going to do something he wrote himself I figured he would stink up the joint. He was actually pretty good. I doubt I’ll be able to catch much of the rest of the season, though.
I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know how his attitude may have changed. But it won’t be due to the change in format - X Factor USA is the same format as X Factor Rest Of The World. His attitude on X Factor UK wasn’t any different to his attitude on American Idol. So if there’s an attitude change, it’s not to do with the mentoring.
And yes, you’re right - after the auditions, each judge gets several acts to mentor. The dynamic changes in that the judges want one of their own acts to win, and it turns into a competition between the judges as much as between the acts themselves. It can get quite bitchy at time; this is a good thing.
Wow, seriously? So The Voice is just a baltant rip-off of X-factor, with the addition of not seeing them first? Hm.
I’ve no idea. I’ve never seen The Voice. The X Factor has been on for years. Before that there was Pop Idol (which, when the franchise was later spread to America, was named American Idol). Pop Idol then got supplanted by Cowell’s X Factor outside America. Probably gonna happen inside America too, now.
There was a lawsuit between Simon Fuller (creator of Pop Idol/American Idol) and Simon Cowell (owner of X Factor) years ago (before American Idol existed, I think) over Cowell ripping off Fuller’s format, but it was settled. It’s all very incestuous.
Someone should make a flowchart or something.
“Think”? Wasn’t this obvious? Isn’t the whole point of the early AI episodes to laugh at the incompetent?
More so than AI? Wow.
I don’t really have a problem with game or talent shows. But the manufactured (and sssttrreecchheedd out) drama drives me insane. Have some faith in your actual product.
But then, I probably still wouldn’t watch, so I’m not the market they’re after.
A few good singers on the show last night but seriously, that whole “ghost” thing was bullshit. It is bad enough they have to pad these shows with the sob stories and 187 commercials per hour, but do they really have to waste even more time with nonsense like this? Seriously, without DVR this show would be unwatchable. At least now I can fast forward and watch the entire two hour show in less than 15 minutes (really!).