I suspect this particular blog won’t win me any friends, but I find myself really disliking programs like X Factor and America’s got talent, even more than ever before. Aside from the whole presentation being totally formulaic and like a soap opera, many of the artists seem totally affected in how they perform. In my totally biased opinion there’s way too much pouting, posing and drama. I appreciate that this is the TV package, but I think these shows do little to encourage genuine new creative talent. Each year the shows become more predictable with declining audiences, even though they are still popular among the masses. I remain mystified by the appeal and the hyping up of “the winners” who usually quickly disappear without trace. I also hate the idea of “instant fame” and it’s clear to me that these shows are essentially production lines to turn out very formulaic and lackluster artists.
The ukulele is an amazing instrument and it’s great to see on the OUS FB page some collaborations between artists. Special thanks to many of the core performers including Alan Thornton, Bianca Brochet, Matt Hicks, Kirsty Worden, Paul Cameron and others who demonstrate some really creative work. This is for me far more interesting, but then I was never a fan of gimmicks, cover versions (with some exceptions) and endless whooping. That said my own musical tastes are probably pretty niche. Give me a sad tortured song any day rather than most of what is generally played on the radio and shown on TV. I appreciate that as someone whose top 10 albums would include Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night and Joni Mitchell’s Hejira, I’m probably in a minority…
In 2017 I’ll be launching phase 3 of Original Ukulele Songs. It’s going to be great…
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