Gordo calls X- Factor "TV karaoke"

[smax]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8355611.stm

(from an interview he gave with the Evening Standard.)
Rock star Sting has called the X Factor "televised karaoke" and said judges like Simon Cowell have "no recognisable talent apart from self-promotion".

The singer, 58, told London's Evening Standard that the Saturday night show was "a soap opera which has nothing to do with music".
He added: "I am sorry but none of those kids are going to go anywhere, and I say that sadly."
Sting rose to fame with The Police, but has also had a successful solo career. With albums like Ten Summoner's Tales and Nothing Like The Sun, he has notched up 11 Grammys, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and three Oscar nominations.
The Police, who recently reformed and performed a sell-out world tour, scooped five Grammy awards when they were together.
Sting said the singers who participate in the X Factor, created by Cowell in 2004, were "humiliated when they get sent off".
He added: "How appalling for a young person to feel that rejection. It is a soap opera which has nothing to do with music.
In fact, it has put music back decades. Television is very cynical."

The singer, whose Fields Of Gold is a staple of talent show auditions, went on to say that X Factor encouraged contestants to "conform to stereotypes".

He added: "They are either Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston or Boyzone and are not encouraged to create any real unique signature or fingerprint.

"That cannot come from TV. The X Factor is a preposterous show and you have judges who have no recognisable talent apart from self-promotion, advising them what to wear and how to look. It is appalling.

"The real shop floor for musical talent is pubs and clubs, that is where the original work is. But they are being closed down on a daily basis. It is impossible to put an act on in a pub.

"The music industry has been hugely important to England, bringing in millions. If anyone thinks the X Factor is going to do that, they are wrong."

A spokesperson for the X Factor declined to comment on Sting's interview, saying he was entitled to his opinion.

Sting has just released a new album, called If On A Winter's Night, which is a collection of carols, lullabies and ancient songs.
The star, born Gordon Sumner in Newcastle, took on many different jobs, including a tax collector and teacher, before he found fame at the age of 27.
The musician's opinions are unlikely to sway the 15.4 million people who tuned into Sunday night's edition of the X Factor.
They witnessed Welsh teenager Lucie Jones lose out to Irish twins John and Edward via the public vote, after Cowell refused to make the call on which act to keep in the contest.

and again in The Current Bun:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sh ... R=X+Factor

and again in The Times Online
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/ ... 913114.ece

[Howstupidmrbates]

Well said, Stingo. I really dislike these shows.

[moonstone]

I can't be doing with them either.

[moonstone]

They just said on the radio that Simon Cowell has made $50 million from the USA shows alone. He's probably the only person who's going to be long term successful from these shows.

[alex]

You had me at hello Sting. You had me at hello. Good for you for telling it like it is.

[smax]

he's spot on, i think the evening standard asked him about it 'cos when he was on a prime time show he was aksed what he thought and said that they were crap (not in those words) so they knew he had a nice anti-view to lead with.

it is a soap opera. the programmes tactics of showing the heart-breaking back-story of a contestant / auditionee / victim has been widely lampooned..... its just a fucking advert for the christmas single...

i looked at the best selling records from the last decade with the idea of covering them for a gig later this year; and apart from the early kylie tune (can't get you outta my head) in 2001 everything afterwards was a fucking X-Factor product... it's certainly calculated to be as popular as possible (duh) but produces, as gordo said, a homogenised, watered-down, appeal-to-the-masses version of the most popular expressive art form in the world today. and it makes me wanna scream......

[DirtyMartini]

Bless.

[TOWOS]

He added: "I am sorry but none of those kids are going to go anywhere, and I say that sadly."

Well, X-Factor I don't know about - maybe he's right. As for American Idol, if he meant to include it in this type of shows, that is absolutely wrong - Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, the RobotCountry Chick I always forget about some others have definitely gone waaaaaay growth.

Funny how he used the same words as Simon Cowell - "karaoke"....

[English-lion]

ahh Mr. Sting calls it like it is..... I like that :-)

[smax]

( i didn't see it tonight but) Simon Cowell apparently threw down the gauntlet and invited gordo on to X Factor to show 'em how it's really done...

[Chatchka]

Simon's invitation just proves Sting's point and Simon's ignorance. Sting said that the pubs were the "shop floor" and I totally agree. No doubt, these talent shows are midly entertaining -- and seem more than mildly entertaining when held up against the other drivel on TV -- but the limited number of successes that we see in America that emerge from American Idol aren't examples of musical innovation. The "winners" aren't starting in the pubs to learn their craft. None of them have an apparent point of view. Rather, they are starting as opening acts on major tours for other music that has been manufactured by "the man." They are merely new virus strains of the sickness in the music business. It makes me wonder how many innovators, like the Police were, are working their asses off in the pubs and can't break through in the craptastic mess that the music business has become because they don't have a corporate sound.

It seems nearly every artist that I hear emerging with a new sound eventually compromises their unique qualities to get to the next level. I don't blame the artists too much; if they want to make a living at it and avoid having two careers, it is nearly the only choice. Making it worse, there are fewer and fewer places to play everyday because in the tanking economy the pubs are cutting live music from their bottom line, which pisses me off as a musician and a patron. Frankly, I don't get a babysitter and go out so I can listen to a fucking jukebox! Particularly, not a jukebox stuffed with the crap that is being sold by the likes of Simon Cowell.

Which brings me back around to hoping that Sting turns Simon down, or just plain ignores him. His invitation is merely another bully tactic, which is his schtick. Simon certainly knows how to make money and find money-makers using the current governing business model, but I'm beginning to wonder if the music business has anything to do with music, craft or artistry anymore, and I think that was Sting's point.

[Chatchka]

Let me also give a shout out to a musician that I saw a couple of weeks ago that knew his craft and demonstrated it handily. He had recorded with Columbia, but didn't re-up with them because he wanted greater control of his sound. He turned down another offer for the same reasons and was going independent. What this meant to the audience I was in, was that he stood up in front of thousands of us (as the opening act for Bonnie Raitt) and sang mostly a capella because he admitted he couldn't afford to tour with a band. (Full disclosure: he had an acoustic guitarist accompany him for a couple of songs and on another song he played a recorded track.) What made it work was his obvious vocal talent and his understanding of his craft. He made the audience his backing band when he needed us, and just let his talent rage the remainder of the time. I learned a lesson from his bravery and humility during that show. I don't think an artist can learn that kind of skill in a moment, or even in the 3 month cycle of a talent show. It takes time on the shop floor.

Despite the great show, I came away a fan of his live music, but find that I don't enjoy it as much recorded. (shrug)


Ryan Shaw http://www.myspace.com/thisisryanshaw

[TOWOS]

Shan,

"New" ideas and creativity are never found on TV. (BTW, Stingo has been in dire need of both for a while).
It's a way of marketing people and make money off them, but, coming from Europe, I can tell you that the talent in the US is astonishingly superior at any level. Americans are born entertainers and the professional approach is so admirable here.
Cowell is a slave trader. He only looks at the marketability of performers. But at the beginning of his career, Sting, Stewart and Andy sold their souls to get on the map, and we know it very well. They "jumped" on the then-profitable and fashionable bandwagon. Therefore, now one can bite the hand that once fed him...If a show with the exposure of AI or whatever it's called in Europe had existed then, you can bet your life that Miles would have done anything to get the Police there. Their credibility as punks was shot from day 1 anyway.

Just $.0002

[Shangeris]

Well, done Stingo!!

[Chatchka]

Towos,

I agree with your point about the Police jumping on the punk bandwagon, but they went into it and came out of it with a clear muscial point of view, or three of them as time has told. That is partially attributable to when they emerged and the place that music business was in then; first they wisely identified and filled a niche and then they created their own. They worked their asses off and made sacrifices to get on top. When they came out of the Police, the music industry was in a place that still allowed for innovation.

Like I said, I don't blame musicians who, to get paid for their talent, have to compromise their artistry; that is their creative perogative. What I have a problem with is the current day industry that sells an inferior product and the people with inferior skill sets who line up to be sold. I don't think for a minute that Stewart, Andy or Sting would have emerged as the artists they are, no matter what niche they decided to barnstorm, if they hadn't gone into it with their superior musical chops and hadn't been willing to learn excellent stage craft along their way. Those skills are exactly why they could deliver the fire-breathing, hair-raising shows that they did.

The current day industry is set up with such tight controls that there are no niche players unless you dip into local markets; there simply doesn't appear to be room for that kind of talent to bubble up to a national or international level because it doesn't fit easily into the marketing plan. I may be generalizing beyond my understanding of the business, but it seems that what is sold now, are people or groups who aren't willing to do the hard work to become really good at what they do and whose only point of view appears to be "get sold." If all that machinery was in place and what was emerging was creative, innovative sound, regardless of genre, I'd be on board with it. But, with rare exception, that isn't what I hear emerging.

Great conversation, btw.

I think what Sting was saying was that if an artist wants to "go anywhere," they must do the hard work. The kind of valuable experience gained in poor-sound-system, pub-level, slogging-it-out-for-drunks performance just can't be doled out by Simon Cowell or his ilk. If you haven't already read it, take a look at Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers next time you're in a bookstore -- Pages 47 -50 -- for another great example. The Beatles played marathon gigs in strip bars in Hamburg to hone their performance chops -- talk about competing for the audience's attention.