Will Will have staying power ? (Will Young in general)

Member Name: ruthiew

Product:	Will Young in general
Date:	20/02/02 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for Will

Disadvantages: Doesn't cater for bands

Well, sadly Pop Idol has now ended. I almost didn't know what to do with myself last Saturday evening (although this was quickly rectified with an excellent video - "What Lies Beneath" - may write an opinion on this too !!).

Anyway, Will was the deserved winner, when it came down to a choice between him and Gareth. I never wanted Gareth to win, simply because he was the bookies' favourite - it's always better to back the underdog. Plus it may be unfair to draw further attention to his speech impediment, but honestly, would he really have been able to hack it in the cut-throat record industry, when he could rarely answer a question posed by the loveable rogues Ant 'n' Dec ?? We may never know.

If truth be told, I would really have liked to see Darius win, primarily because he's Scottish and it would have been two fingers in the eye to all his critics. But, sadly that was not to be. Although it was good to see him progress as far as the last 3 contestants. That was surely justification indeed that he ought to have gone through to the final 10 from his earlier round, instead of Fat Rik and Geordie Aaron.

But back to our winner. Will has a unique voice - very melodic and certainly distinctive. Odd then that the songs selected for the winner to release as a double A-side should be such poor indictments of current pop music, and probably more suited to the gallant loser, Gareth (he being such a "boy-band pin-up" type of guy !!), who was criticised for his strong affinity for Westlife songs.

I think we as the record-buying public would have been better served had Will had some kind of input into the songs that are going to be released in his name. Surely he has some inkling of what sounds good emanating from his smiley mouth. After all he does have a degree in politics, so he's not dumb.

It will be very interesting to see what happens to the record. Doubtless it will pl
ough straight to No 1 on the week of its release - but how long will it remain there ? And what will happen after that - plans for another single, album etc etc. ?

Although I was gripped by the PopIdol fever which seemed to sweep the nation (at least that's what the media would have us believe), I honestly think that this is not really the way we want to go about encouraging new talent into our Music Charts. What has happened to the bands who graft away, doing the gigs, playing real instruments themselves (!), roadying for themselves, getting paid a pittance yet loving it all because they are dedicated to their music. Most of the bands which rose to prominence in the early 1980s were like this. They worked hard to get where they were, often holding down "proper" jobs while they gigged at night. Doubtless there are bands still like this, but are they being given a chance?

We seem to have been force-fed so much of these manufactured bands and solo performers, who have been signed up basically because they responded to a newspaper ad, that we think this is what we want now. Is it really? How good an idea is PopIdol - should we not be concentrating on nurturing the true talents of bands out there.

I don't deny that Will Young is talented and has a good voice - but it will be very interesting to see how long he survives in the current pop climate. I suspect it won't be all that long, when you consider how long people like Sting, and Elton John and countless other "oldies" have been at it.

Will WILL have the staying power ?? Watch this space ..... ..... .....

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