Talent Search

I watch a lot of TV. It’s right beside the computer.

The shows I seem to be watching are reality shows, I’m a big Gordon Ramsey fan - Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, and the new one, Hotel Hell. Most of all I am hooked on the talent search shows like American Idol, The Voice, America’s Got Talent, and now the X Factor. This year I'm wishing I could tune into the British and Australian versions of some of these shows, even though on the British X Factor this year, a dog act won. 

I'm watching America’s Got Talent as I write this and it’s boring beyond belief. There isn't one act this entire season that I would spend my money to go to Las Vegas to see, let alone buy a ticket. Even with the addition of judge Howard Stern, it just isn't entertaining. I think it’s great to have Howie Mandel and Sharon Osborne, a Canadian and a British judge on there as opposed to having all American judges, but Howie and Sharon live in America most of the year so….. All three judges have pretty much declared that it isn’t going to be the year of the singer so what’s left? A mishmash of circus acts including a…………..dog act. 

Here in Canada they tried Canadian Idol. I can’t tell you offhand how many seasons it ran but no winner has been heard from since. (Editor: Hedley maybe?) This year they did a Canada’s Got Talent and it was a major yawner. I’m not putting down Canadian talent, we have so many acts that are very visible around the world, like Justin Beiber, Celine Dion, Michael Buble and now Carley Rae Jepson. I guess we just do it better on our own. 

Coming up is the new season of The Voice and then X Factor. The Voice will be the easier show for me to follow I even though I’m not a big Ceelo Green fan. (I had no idea who he was until his appearance on the show and then only after three episodes.) This year on X Factor we get Britney Spears as a judge. How annoying!. For me she is the “queen of lip sync”, a no talent who will be judging real talent. 

Both of these shows are interesting in that at some point the judges pick a team from the contestants to work with and guide them through the show until a winner is chosen, then that judge gets bragging rights. I totally feel sorry for the team that will be guided by Britney Spears. 

It’s no secret that many of the winners don’t end up being the star the show was looking for and some of the people who didn’t win end up with better careers than the winner. There was a show called Nashville Star. Miranda Lambert made it to, I think, the top four; now she is one of the top selling country female singers today.

I pride myself to have picked the winner on American Idol for the last 6 seasons, once the top ten are selected. If it’s a girl and guy in the final and the guy is good looking, women vote for him. If it’s two guys, well it can be a toss up. If the guy is average, the girl will win. . 

So why do I like the Aussie and British versions of these shows, It’s because they try to be different, original. Sure, there are the good and not so good contestants but when they put someone through, it’s because they have a raw talent, so it can become very hard to pick a clear winner. 

In America, contestants usually sound like someone who is currently on the charts or someone already a star. This year on American Idol, of the two finalists, one was a girl who had a powerful voice but sang like 20 other divas who are so much better. The other contestant, Phillip Phillips had a distinctively quirky voice. He sang popular songs with his own twist, clearly something different. I believe he won on that fact alone; being drop dead handsome and a bit shy was secondary. His winning song “Home” is included below; they couldn’t have selected a better song for him. 

Here’s a list of my Top Ten favourite Aussie and British singers from 2009 to 2012 that I found while surfing Youtube. Combined these stars have several hundred million hits.

1. Matt Cardle – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 2010 Winner of Britian’s X Factor, every song he sang on the show you will love. 

2. Shaun Smith - Britain's Got Talent 2009 Singing "Ain't No Sunshine" he's a 17 year old high school footballer with a hope of having a successful singing career. The total package here. He made it to the finals but he and Susan Boyle lost to a dance crew by the name of Diversity, hmmm. 

3. Lucy Spraggan – 2012 UK X Factor with her song “Last Night” Lucy may have just written the perfect drinking song about waking up the next morning and trying to remember what happened the night before. We've all been there. 

4. Ronan Park – Britian’s Got Talent 2011, I'm not sure of the song but its the audition song, you got to hear this kid, at 12 years old this kid can sing. Ronan had to deal with homophobic remarks which weren't called for, he's a child. Lucky for him, he finished 2nd but he is enjoying a life as a recording artist, I don't even want to know where all the haters are now. 

5. Jonathan & Charlotte - Britain's Got Talent 2012 having a "Susan Boyle" moment, they went on to finals but lost to a dancing dog. At first it was suggested that Charlotte might hold Jonathan back, he should sing alone. Jonathan is 17 and Charlotte 16. 

6. Chooka Parker - Aussie 2011 X Factor. How does anyone record this guy, he makes it up on the spot. Amazing and only 16 years old. 

7. Jack Vidgen - Aussie Winner 2011 X Factor is a 14 year old sensation with an unbelievable voice. He sings Whitney Houston in his audition. 

8. Owen Campbell - Australia's Got Talent 2012, given a second chance to compete, he insulted the judges and made an ass of himself, they gave him a second chance. He didn't win but what a performer. 

9. Craig Colton - British X Factor 2011, Craig went a long way on the show but didn't win. His audition he was hilarious, he surprised his parents and had fun joking about them. 

10. Janet Devlin - British X Factor 2011 Shy and 16 years old from Northern Ireland, so good, such a distinct voice. 

Here's Matt Cardle and Phillip Phillips . . .