The second series of Fame Academy starts tonight and is recieving surprisingly good press from what I've seen - although the show was balsted by the critics in it's first few weeks the public warmed to it last year and we've got some good singers out of it.
So what is everyone's hopes/feelings about the second series. The BBC are now allowing the students to be voted in by the public this year with a starting list of 25 to be whittled down to 13.
Fame Academy Live starts at 6.30pm tonight on BBC1
The last series was not very good. Celeb Fame Academy was much better but still was flawed.
The whole point of these pop-idol type programmes is for the viewer to access the whole process of selecting the eventual winner and thats where the first series of FA seemed to fall down. They seemed to have addressed this fact by introducing more people that the public will chose but we still want to see the thousands of auditions and people making idiots of themselves like in Pop Idol.
The presenters of FA are ok but still not a patch on PI Ant n Dec. The judges on PI give a much more fun and pantomime type response were we dont really care about the response from the FA judges as much as they arent 'as famous' This fact shouldnt make much difference but to the general public it helps if the judge is a familar face a la Pete Waterman, Geri or Simon Cowell (now famous)
The last series was not very good. Celeb Fame Academy was much better but still was flawed.
The whole point of these pop-idol type programmes is for the viewer to access the whole process of selecting the eventual winner and thats where the first series of FA seemed to fall down. They seemed to have addressed this fact by introducing more people that the public will chose but we still want to see the thousands of auditions and people making idiots of themselves like in Pop Idol.
But if they do that then it look even more of a copy than it already does. Besides, Fame Academy is supposed to be less about humiling crap singers and more about nurturing the people they've got over ten weeks to become good singers.
I have to say, the programme has a very amateurish feel to it. I think it is a mistake to have the show coming from that tiny set in the house and not from the big studio (or is this just for the initial auditions). Having the families on the staircase with massive badges saying "Louise's Mum" is a bit naff.
The judges are trying really hard to be nasty and controversial, in a Simon Cowell way, but failing miserably. And the presenters don't really work for me. I think Pop Idol 2 which is a much more polished product, has little to fear here.
Not keen on the new voting system. I'd be happier going into the Academy as a result of the judges liking me rather than the public, as normally their judgements are on the foundation of better criteria than the public.. I trust the teachers' opinions a hell of a lot more than the public's. It should be the teachers that decide.
Not keen on the new voting system. I'd be happier going into the Academy as a result of the judges liking me rather than the public, as normally their judgements are on the foundation of better criteria than the public.. I trust the teachers' opinions a hell of a lot more than the public's. It should be the teachers that decide.
I'd agree with that - I'd be tempted to vote for Gary because hs is a fellow Geordie.
Do excuse me - I'm just being sick at Jason Donovan
I thought they'd use the hall of the academy as a studio instead of that huge one miles away that they used last year (as they did in the celebrity version) - and I'm glad they did - it gives the shows a lot more of a feel of being at the heart of the academy. Last year's main shows felt quite detached from it all, I thought, and that huge studio seemed cold and almost aircraft-hangar like!!
I thought tonight's show was good - as were the extra shows on BBC Three - thank God they've gotten rid of last year's awful presenters - Claudia Winkleman is far better (she reminds me slightly of Davina Mcall!). The studio is also much better, the american diner feel didn't do it for me, and looked completely out of place.
The atmosphere was very tense and it was nice to see a bit of emotion!
My only niggle is the graphics - which are sloppy. They've had almost a year to sort them out but they haven't done anything. The font is fine for the logo but is very hard to read on the astons etc. The titles for Fame Academy on Three are appauling - someone appears to have copied the BBC Three logo off the website or something and shabbily pasted it on the end of the normal titles. Also the credits are really going to annoy me - they've squashed one of the stings down to the bottom of the screen for the credits to run over, completely disfiguring it - it looks awful!
I'm not a reality TV kinda of person but I did tune into last year's Fame Academy and quite liked it. The voting off bit at the end by the students is very good. Celebrity Fame Academy was hit and miss but this new series has surpassed itself. Congrats to the BBC, yesterday's final result nearly had me it tears.
The BBC3 coverage has also improved, mainly due to Claudia's great way of making people feel at ease. I for one will be watching it until the end.
: By the way I take it the BBCi coverage will start when the show moves to the main studio in a fortnight?
It's been reported that Camden Council has informed Endemol and the BBC that they haven't got sufficient planning permission to use Witanhurst House for Fame Academy. The two parties are in talks to decide whether the show can go on using the historic house, which is located in Highgate.
This can mean if it is decided there has not been sufficent planning permission either Fame Academy must end, or planning permission must be negotiated.
This can mean if it is decided there has not been sufficent planning permission either Fame Academy must end, or planning permission must be negotiated.
: By the way I take it the BBCi coverage will start when the show moves to the main studio in a fortnight?