Fame academy. (Fame Academy)

Member Name: TheDrowningMan

Product:	Fame Academy
Date:	21/09/03 (220 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pretty funny to watch

Disadvantages: most of the contestands are mediocre, produces more bland pop to add to the already laclustre charts

Now, call me dumb if there was a Fame academy section on here, but i couldnt find it. if they ever get round to putting one in i'll see if i can get it moved...

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After being in a totally relaxed mood after watching Chelsea hammer wolves 5-0 earlier in the day, I thought id catch a bit of fame academy. I don?t usually watch it, but thought id give it a go instead of saying rude words when someone mentions it.

Firstly if anyone hasn?t watched it before, it?s about a group of ?singers? who made it through to the televised academy stage. They stay at, and train at an academy somewhere in the UK. Twice a week they all have to sing a song live on TV, and then the public vote to get rid of one of them. The three people with the least votes all have a chance of going, as the 4 judges nominate one to ?save?, and then their fellow academy goers vote to save one more, leaving just one to leave. The eventual winner will win a £1m record deal, and obviously, a hell of a lot of public attention.

Now, the public attention may be very high at first for the winner, but, in the same style as pop idol, the eventual victor will, more than likely, be another bland canvas who will have his personality removed, and replaced with one that has ?Polydor? stamped across it.

Last year the eventual winner was, of course ???..erm??. errrr?.. hold on, erm, oh crap i know it, oh no I give up. That is how memorable he was, (his name was David Sneddon, but I had to look it up to remember), and he hasn?t released anything for ages, and I CERTAINLY cant remember what his single was called.

So, on to this year. I haven?t watched any of it really, but I caught the jist of it. There are 4 judges, 2 that have been poached from pop idol, on ITV, (Carrie and David), a moany older guy called Richard, and Robin Gibb, who of course praises very hig

hly anyone who sings a bee gees song. All of these, except robin, are teachers to the contestants at the academy, along with 3 others. The contestants are a bit of a mixture. Mostly same old same old pop star wannabies, plus 2 that have stood out that little bit more. There?s Alex, a rather colourful 19yr old girl, who is extremely pretty. Unfortunately she?s a lesbian, and as such wouldn?t be interested in me *sigh*, but she sings very very well, and looks like she isn?t of the Christina or Britney mould. I just hope she sings decent enough songs when/if she wins. The second, and without doubt the most interesting of the bunch, is Peter. I really think he looks like he should be in the Libertines, and maybe Pete ?Doherty? going to prison is just a cover for him appearing as ?Peter? in fame academy. His zany, energetic, mad style appeals to me, and I think if he wins, he would be someone id listen to. Plus he sang 'Friday im in love' by the Cure yesterday, so he must have great taste!

The rest are, in my opinion, rubbish. Fair enough they can sing better than peter, but Robert smith, Thom Yorke and Kurt wouldn?t win any singing contests, but they have personality, identity, creativity and write awesome songs. This, I feel, is lacking from the rest (Carolynne, Alistair and the guy ejected while I am writing this, James), just as it was lacking from Will and Gareth, even though it shouldn?t be an issue, I think Will should have left his sexuality revelation until a little later in his ?career?, and saying he shagged Jordan hasn?t seemed to have helped Gareth out of obscurity. And just as it is lacking from all the bands that stifle the charts, with the exception of a few such as the darkness, libertines, kings of leon etc.

Programs like these are always made to make money. The producers couldn?t care less how the winner fares in the charts after the program is finished, and as such, doesn?t care which people make it through to the televi
sed program, so long as they look good, and can sing a little. All the people who could help the
British music industry, and give any shred of respectfulness back to the charts, are discounted long ago, because they don?t conform to the norm, and possibly don?t look good on TV (ill admit Thom Yorke isn?t the sexiest guy around).

Why cant the beeb make a different program, such as rock academy, or indie idol or wannabe metaller or something. An interesting program, a program that would produce someone that would get people listening to music other than bland pop. Programs like this fuel the meltdown of the British music industry. Unfortunately the charts were pretty much dead even before the forerunner ?Popstars?, but all of these programs haven?t helped one bit. Why? Like I said, the program makers aren?t interesting in saving the industry, just making money. If it?s a hit show, they wont set about making it better, or changing it in any way, just make more of them, and sell it to whoever wants it. Thus the problem with carry on getting worse, exponentially, as more of these programs are made, and even the losers making records.

Therefore, for people above the age of 12, and those with decent musical taste, we watch these programs for puerile entertainment, not to judge the talent of the contestants. I watched pop idol, but purely to watch the very weird people who think they can sing, but must either be deaf, or have some very dishonest friends.

So, in conclusion, as a vehicle to bring decent music to the public, I feel it falls short, showing us a very constant mix of bland pop, and even blander pop, a never ending Eurovision song contest, if you like. As entertainment for us who like to laugh at others misfortunes, its ok, but id rather watch Kirsty?s home videos, especially the uncut episodes! But at least they are on at the same time, so you can miss both by watching something else much better!

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