At the end of it all, American Idol judge Simon Cowell proves that, just because he freely gives criticism doesn't mean he can take it. At least that's my interpretation of this little response concerning the criticism his other show, Britain's Got Talent, received:After eight years of being a judge on talent shows on both sides of the Atlantic, few things surprise me any more. Least of all, the flak that has been directed my way.
If, like me, you make a living from criticising people on television, then you can't complain when people turn the tables and criticise you. And I don't.
But this year has been exceptional in many ways. Not least because there has never been a spectacle quite like the latest series of Britain's Got Talent.
This year's final attracted a live UK audience of 20.1million people, but also caught the attention of the whole world via new outlets such as YouTube. It truly became a global phenomenon.
However, as you might have noticed, the show has not been without controversies. Chief among them, of course, were the difficulties experienced by runner-up Susan Boyle, and the children who broke down in tears in front of millions on the live show. That has provided a field day for the armchair pundits.
The show has been accused of being a cruel circus that sets out to exploit the vulnerable in a cynical bid to boost ratings. And I, of course, am inevitably portrayed as the evil ringmaster.
So love the shows or hate them, the time has finally come for me to set a few things straight. And I'm the first to hold my hands up and admit I've made mistakes.I didn't get into showbusiness to make little children cry or upset a nice lady like Susan Boyle.
3 comments:
one of the reason I don't watch any incarnation of these shows is b/c when I tried, my conclusion was much like what Simon says is the overall prevailing criticism:
The show has been accused of being a cruel circus that sets out to exploit the vulnerable in a cynical bid to boost ratings.
What I know, is the handful of shows I watched, w/ an avid fan, involved so much inappropriate humiliation of hopefuls and derision of gender, class, and ability w/little regard to the obvious mental state of some of the contestants that I was thoroughly done long before the actual singing competition aired. Late at night, I find myself watching the AI rewind shows and all I hear are the sounds of past contestants still twisted in knots over much of what went on behind the scenes.
Simon's excuse has always been that the music industry itself is no less cruel than the show and part of the benefit of his criticism is developing a thick skin. Well, when people end up in hospital over a tv show while the world watches, there is only so much you can take away from that.
Where I do agree w/Simon, AI and all of its incarnations is not wholly to blame nor is he. People watch. Millions of people watch. And millions of people do so just to Simon act like an arse. So before pointing fingers, fans might want to look long and hard in the mirror.
You raise some really good points here, Anon.
Simon's argument is well-reasoned enough. But his conception of fairness, success and happiness is entirely monetary.
That's probably an idea that a lot of the participants buy into, also, but that doesn't mean it's the only one, or a useful one, when it comes to treatment of competitors during and after the show.
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