Hallelujah

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My daughter has alas now stopped watching Strictly Come Dancing with me, as all her friends watch X Factor. So, after SCD had finished (I have my priorities right) I watched the X Factor final with her - not something I think I'll repeat. Is it obligatory for everyone to cry? And did no-one think it might have been kinder to point out to Eoghan that he had a few tuning issues? The whole experience felt quite unreal - I felt as though I was sitting in a swirling sea of souped up emotion. I did wonder quite why everything felt so hyper. Is it because the contestants are living the only dream that most of the audience have, in which case I can see why things were so fervid; though it's a dreadful comment on British society if the only thing most of our young have to look forward to is the dim possibility of appearing on X Factor - one which will rapidly recede as soon as they're past their mid twenties, and what then?

I do hope whoever made the decision to parade a freak show of the worst auditionees has been taken into a corner and quietly sacked. Tours of Bedlam obviously aren't as far away as they should be from our national psyche, alas.

I just hope that the final wasn't the best day of her life for the girl who won - one would hope life retains a few more good things for her, though as far as having a successful life as a singer goes, the omens aren't good. Most of the winners appear to have sunk without trace.

So, I feel bad about mentioning the campaign to get Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah as the Christmas number one, rather than Alexandra's. Poor child; I don't like to blight her dream, and it's hardly her fault that the show's producers have made her sing it, but the Jeff Buckley version is so far beyond hers. Here it is:


Comments

Juliet said…
Mercifully, despite near-universal X-factor mania, we remain a strictly Strictly family here. Needless to say, my kids thought that the winning X-factor song was merely a cover of a tune from Shrek, so I have been putting them right on that and they have conceded, without any strenuous prompting from me, that the Jeff Buckley version is by far the greatest(yes, I know, and my apologies to LC devotees), and it's that version which has been blaring from bedrooms for the past couple of days. Hallelujah!
18 December 2008 at 10:28
Unknown said…
I've been glued to Strictly, and barely glanced at X Factor this year - not that I've ever been a regular viewer. I dislike the way everyone is prompted to have a 'story', with maximum tears, and the endless whining about how this has been their lifelong dream, and how the 17 year old competitor's life will end if they get kicked off. No, it won't alter the fate of nations, dammit !
I suspected the girl might win, as her style of exaggerated singing, a la Whitney Houston, remains unaccountably popular.

I'm looking forward to the Strictly Final though. Can't help thinking of it as The Twinkly Aberration since Jane used the phrase in a previous post.
18 December 2008 at 14:03
Jane Badger said…
Juliet - daughter knew it as the Shrek one too - funny how their cultural references change - but it turned out son had downloaded it long ago, and had completely missed the fact it was in Shrek.

Gillian - I wish it had been me who had said it was The Twinkly Aberration but it wasn't (at least, I don't think it was.... I'm sure I'd have had a little mental preen if I'd thought it up!) I do agree with your point about the hyping up. I'm sure it does make for "better" television, but kind it ain't.
18 December 2008 at 15:32
Unknown said…
Jane - I found the quote in your entry from 11th october:

"Shall look forward to another bout of Kierkegaard after Strictly Come Dancing. I love, love, love this (and I LOVE Don Warrington), The world seems to divide into two camps here: those who absolutely see the point, and those who think it is a strange, twinkly aberration."

Twinkly final tomorrow !
19 December 2008 at 17:39
Jane Badger said…
Gillian - well goodness me! I hope I never have to do an exam on what I've written, or I'll fail. I know it's the final tomorrow, but, gasp, I won't be in to see it because I'm going to Olympia.....
19 December 2008 at 23:13
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