Soapstar Superstar

Well yeah, you are right of course, but at least it could be said that a non-celeb reality show has a genuine competition element, much as I loathe them all, BB in particular.

But this? What gets me animated with shows like this is when they start crying or are otherwise emotional, as if it actually means something to them. Whatever -- they just like the sound of their own voices.

But anyway, the point of my post wasn't just anti-reality bile, just genuinely can't make out the purpose of this one.

I love it when the competitors start going on about getting "stressed" about SS . Stressed indeed... they should do some work in armed forces or emergency services-- they'd know what stress is then.

There is an ulterior motive for SS apparently; Antony Cotton has mentioned on one occasion as retort to Billy Sammeth that "at least I'm standing here making money for charity".

Obviously any mention by ITV of charity, is underplayed in favour of "ring our 50p/minute phonelines, otherwise your favourite soapstar will be hung drawn and quartered".

I suppose SS has a point, but the constant deluge of reality TV is starting to get tiresome. It just seems like cheapo television, made by people with little imagination.

Also I have never "got" BB. To me it's just f***wits sitting around, scratching the backsides. The contestants occasionally do some intelligence-insulting task (which they usually screw up), make inane comments and then talk about who is back-stabbing who.... zzzzz

I suppose with the celebrity version, the contestants have some personality about them, when they actually choose proper celebs Celebrities are no more exciting when they are sleeping though!

Am I missing a point in history where television was all high-brow and had to have a point?

It's entertainment for god's sake. Variety.

Does eveything have to inform? After a hard day's work I'm only too happy to have a chunk of the evening taken up with a bit of fluff.

Watch Discovery Channel if you feel you need to learn.

Alright, chill out It's not fluff per se I have the problem with, just the sheer quantity of reality shows that are the problem for me. It's hardly variety or entertaining, if channels fill the schedules with barely differing reality-shows all the time. Probably why ITV1's audience-share has slumped so much in a lot of cases.

Remember that ITV1 (supposedly) has PSB requirements, so a good deal of it should inform; along with C4, FIve and the BBC channels!

I'm not saying getting rid of light-hearted fluff altogether (it is an integral part of the schedules)-- they just ought not to cram the schedules with it!

I have an awful feeling Anthony Cotton is going to win this.

WTF is going on? Why is Tupele still in this. It has just been revealed that Gemma is next to go. Who is voting for Tupele???

I must say I am very surprised by the way the voting has gone during this series. I expected Matthew, Leon and Gemma to be front runners yet they have all gone and we are left with Tupele and Anthony who IMO arent as good singers.

I dont think Tupele stands a chance of winning, she has been in the bottom two 4 times now so isnt popular.

Another time I can wheel out my "trained musician" opinion.

Tupele
Arguably the strongest female vocalist left - not necessarily in terms of vibrato, as there's practically none there, but in terms of power she has in her voice. Her musical theatre performance was strong this evening, for me, stronger than her pop song performance. I'm surprised that she keeps ending up in the bottom two.

Anthony
Quite a surprise - I had expected everything he sang to be all-gay all the time. I, like many, was impressed with his first performance (which is something for me - I loathe Joseph), however he was badly let down by Karma Chameleon. Well done on last night's Burley Chassis medley - she's a hard singer to emulate and there's a huge temptation to take her tone and vibrato and go down that road, but after the shaky start, he improved.

Hayley
Not my favourite in the competition. I was about ready to vomit listening to On My Own - that song is a beautiful Boubil/Schonberg tune, and for me was performed dismally. Slightly better was her version of Son Of A Preacher Man - there's just something about her voice I dislike.

Mark
I've just been in Guys and Dolls as Nicely Nicely Johnson, and listening to Mark sang Luck Be A Lady, I was expecting much more. That song should be full of passion, considering the lyrics - Sky is about to make a roll that could lose him Sarah Brown and the respect of his fellow gamblers - but for me it was full of posing and sounded oddly lacking in bass on the part of the microphone. Canned Heat was marginally better, but you can't improve on Jamiroquai's original.

Well done to the fabby orchestra, who I hope to see resurrected for X Factor perhaps?

A comment about the judges - I say it again, Michael Ball and Chris Cowey seem to be the only ones who know what they're talking about - even if Chris doesn't like showtunes .

Anthony Cotton is awful. There is no power to his voice and he ends up nearly chasing the backing notes all the time.

Nice to see David Gest again tonight. .....christ...why can't these "celebrities" just disappear after appearing on reality TV once.

I'm not sure if the competition is being judged on just singing. This seems to be the case when judges make the comments; they don't just remark on the singing, but also how the contestant "presents" the song (although Billy Sammeth's over-zealous focus on wardrobe is getting tedious).

On that basis Antony Cotton may not have the best voice... his showmanship/personality and the emotion he carries through in the more 'serious' songs that give him the ostensible "superstar" quality.

Although Karma... bombed for me, I think his performances are usually charismatic. I'd rather watch his Shirley Bassy rendition, than that po-faced Ozzie "rocker" who is up his own arse.

Yes its true it isnt just about singing but Anthony is just awful imo, sorry.

Ironically although Corrie is my favourate soap im backing either Hayley or Mark to win, not the 2 acts left from Corrie!

In what way do you find Antony awful just out of interest? I wouldn't mind Hayley winning, I think she has been of consistently good quality and she has been modest, but bubbly, throughout.

Mark I dislike, his haughtiness is annoying. I think his singing is OK, but he is so up himself-- takes himself and everything else too seriously.