Mon 1st June 2009 - Will The Media Do A 'Jade Goody' on Susan Boyle?

Hi,
I hope everything is ok with you.

So, Britain's Got Talent finished this week with a whopping 18 million people watching the live final.
With today's media choices, it's going some to get 18 million viewers in the UK!

The favourite was Susan Boyle who had been made famous around the world by the show, but some elements of the media had decided to turn on her in the week leading up to Saturday.

I'm not sure how well the name of Jade Goody is known outside the UK, but Goody was a contestant in Big Brother who was, basically, a bit thick, but went on to be a big celebrity just by being a celebrity. The papers used her to sell issues, and right up to her death from cancer it was a roller coaster of cash for stories.

Let's hope they don't do the same to Boyle, it may sound cynical, but as she was rushed to a clinic on Sunday, I'm sure some newspaper editors would love it if she went downhill on the mental health front - think how much they'd sell!
In fact one of the Britain's Got Talent judges Piers Morgan was an editor at The Sun tabloid paper, and since he had his own family he says he now knows what kind of distress and anguish he caused when he was editor.

Other points to ponder about BGT? Well on Friday's semifinal, one of the contestants was a 10 yr old girl, who was overwhelmed during her performance, and burst into tears.
Very uncomfortable to watch and it akes you wonder if a minimum age needs to be introduced.

Also a dubious side of the show is that acts were put through to the semis who should never have been - they were never going to get any further, and let's be honest, they were being out and out used by the show as cannon fodder.

That's not good.

I can just about see the logic of having bad acts in there deliberately but on the integrity front it does nothing for me, and there were much more talented acts that were left on the sidelines.
No-one said showbiz was easy!

The winners were a dance act called Diversity. I don't normally like dance acts, but this lot impressed me.
Obviously talented, the choreography was entertaining and genuinely creative.

They didn't play any 'hard done by' cards either, they simply expressed pleasure that a lot of hard work had got them reward - now *that's* the kind of story to take from Britain's Got Talent!
Have some belief, take action, work at it, and you could go places you'd never have thought possible!

I'll close with a showbiz story of my own.
I was talking to someone recently about a woman I was seeing a few years ago. I was doing a panto tour, playing Wishee Washee, and it so happened that one of the shows was local. I suggested that the girl bring her kids along to see the show.

It seems her kids had a really good time, but apparently, when I was onstage, her young daughter yelled out to anyone that was listening "I KNOW HIM, HE COMES ROUND AND SLEEPS IN MUMMY'S BED!"

That story makes me chortle - I'm not sure it made her mummy chortle though, she dumped me by text shortly thereafter, saying amongst other things that I had 'looked a bit gay'.

Ok, that's it for this time, I'm off to download a Britain's Got Talent application form...(not) (or maybe yes..?)

'Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
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Why The Britain's Got Talent Deniers Annoy Me!

May 2009, and the Britain's Got Talent machine rolls onwards, with it being one of the most watched shows on British TV, and online around the world. So why do so many people deny they watch it, and why does it annoy me..?

I call them the Britain's Got Talent Deniers, and you hear them all the time. If you ask them whether they saw Susan Boyle, or any of the other acts, their first comment is 'oh I don't usually watch it, but I did see her.'

Hmm...

This kind of thing drives me round the bend for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, as someone who has used only medium quality entertainment skills to earn a living from it, I know full well what it takes to put a genuinely entertaining act together.

Most of the acts that grab the headlines are unassuming people with seemingly 'normal' lives, that get on stage and unveil a performance with real entertainment skills.
It may be singing or dancing, but it makes an immediate impact on the live audience.

That's why I love live performance, the emotional awakening of an audience is something that can be felt, but is hard to describe, and if you can do it it's a natural high that drug dealers wish they could bottle up!

The Britain's Got Talent set up slightly skews the reality, because the good acts are thrown in with the bad ones, and that makes them seem better than they are sometimes.
Also, despite the fact that their act wows an audience live, they then have to either repeat it or come up with something new, not always easy with the variety acts!
The other reason the Britain's Got Talent Deniers annoy me is that it's a succumbing to peer pressure - the thought is 'I'd better not admit to watching it unless people think I'm too common'

Come on folks! Be prepared to stand up for what you enjoy, if you like watching it, say so!
There is no need to defend what you watch on TV, and certainly not when it's to do with achievement of goals combined with passion, hard work, and something that's vital to all societies, the value of entertainment.

So, next time you watch it, tell me about it, tell me what you thought about the work ethics involved, but don't say you don't watch it if you do, don't be a Britain's Got Talent Denier!