RE
Some good points but not sure I agree about Simon leaving for the US causing the show’s downfall. I think the Gary Barlow series were some of the best they’ve done (and were really good for talent too). The series last year was pretty good for talent too, just let down by too much tinkering with the format.
I completely agree with the earlier post - viewers just want the old format, a bit of the pantomime and some characters. The problem is they try to engineer the drama a little too much. I’ve long thought that their goal was to recreate the magic of the 2010 series, hence you seem to see them cast the same characters whereas that just happened organically .
Agreed. Although ratings say otherwise, I don't think they've recovered from Gamu's departure. She was, of course, at the centre of a scandal right from the very beginning: auto tuning. The 2011 series was doing OK up until bootcamp and that hideous decision to inviting everyone over and cruelly telling them there and then who had made it and whose journey was a waste of time.
The Ant and Dec reliance has left ITV heavily exposed now that Ant McPartlin and therefore the double act are currently, whatever way you look at it, damaged goods.
The days of Cowell boasting how they're "Number One on Saturday night" and the big, BIG names that would be both a celebrity mentor and an interval act seem like a lifetime ago. The interval act roster now is covered by all five solo members of One Direction, Louisa Johnson, Little Mix and we can ask Robbie to put in a shift.
Everyone knows it's not a fair fight. The Lucie Jones vs. Jedward singoff was the moment the manipulation for me really jumped the shark. Weeks of slating the twins then Cowell goes and votes to save them convinitlently engineering a deadlock that sent Lucie home? Come on.
To be honest though you can trace where the rot set in back to 2011. Although Little Mix are one of the more successful winners, that's where the peak started to tail off. I think Simon going off to do the failed US show, taking Cheryl with him only for that to implode, meant he wasn't able to be hands on with the production. Add to that the fact that all the A team behind the scenes went to work on the American show, so consequently the British show got a B team behind the scenes, and it's not totally surprising to see why it went downhill so quickly. America got (all the) talent and the UK were forced to suffer a second rate production and where we are now is the end result.
Indeed, Cowell's return in 2014 delivered what I would say was the last truly great series. 2015 was " Get Louisa over the line at all costs." 2016 was "Oh f**k, Saara Aalto might actually win this" - it was evident some producers wanted to nobble her, but Brian Friedman was clearly cheerleading her behind the scenes (Indeed, he was recruited by her and YLE to do her Eurovision choreo and staging.) And then 2017 was the Grace and Rak-Su show.
The days of Cowell boasting how they're "Number One on Saturday night" and the big, BIG names that would be both a celebrity mentor and an interval act seem like a lifetime ago. The interval act roster now is covered by all five solo members of One Direction, Louisa Johnson, Little Mix and we can ask Robbie to put in a shift.
Everyone knows it's not a fair fight. The Lucie Jones vs. Jedward singoff was the moment the manipulation for me really jumped the shark. Weeks of slating the twins then Cowell goes and votes to save them convinitlently engineering a deadlock that sent Lucie home? Come on.
To be honest though you can trace where the rot set in back to 2011. Although Little Mix are one of the more successful winners, that's where the peak started to tail off. I think Simon going off to do the failed US show, taking Cheryl with him only for that to implode, meant he wasn't able to be hands on with the production. Add to that the fact that all the A team behind the scenes went to work on the American show, so consequently the British show got a B team behind the scenes, and it's not totally surprising to see why it went downhill so quickly. America got (all the) talent and the UK were forced to suffer a second rate production and where we are now is the end result.
Indeed, Cowell's return in 2014 delivered what I would say was the last truly great series. 2015 was " Get Louisa over the line at all costs." 2016 was "Oh f**k, Saara Aalto might actually win this" - it was evident some producers wanted to nobble her, but Brian Friedman was clearly cheerleading her behind the scenes (Indeed, he was recruited by her and YLE to do her Eurovision choreo and staging.) And then 2017 was the Grace and Rak-Su show.
Some good points but not sure I agree about Simon leaving for the US causing the show’s downfall. I think the Gary Barlow series were some of the best they’ve done (and were really good for talent too). The series last year was pretty good for talent too, just let down by too much tinkering with the format.
I completely agree with the earlier post - viewers just want the old format, a bit of the pantomime and some characters. The problem is they try to engineer the drama a little too much. I’ve long thought that their goal was to recreate the magic of the 2010 series, hence you seem to see them cast the same characters whereas that just happened organically .
Agreed. Although ratings say otherwise, I don't think they've recovered from Gamu's departure. She was, of course, at the centre of a scandal right from the very beginning: auto tuning. The 2011 series was doing OK up until bootcamp and that hideous decision to inviting everyone over and cruelly telling them there and then who had made it and whose journey was a waste of time.
