Who the hell watches crap like The X-factor or Strictly come dancing?

[Gandalf]

But thats the thing Miles, for most people this is 'real' music, its called pop for a reason, disagree all you want but the numbers dont lie.

I wouldnt get to upset over the judging, Dani Minogue and Cheryl Whatever judging someones voice?

for someone who watches it by proxy your well clued up mate

Honestly, I don't watch it, but my computer is about 9 feet away from the TV. I hear it all and if the wife is in TV mode then that means I need to be quiet to allow her her time because at other times I put on my CD's and am entitled to my time. That's why I am having my rant on here because I am able to say what I want without repercussions. I think the programme is shit, but it's never good to walk up to the wife and say "Your programme is shit". That never goes down well.

You can call it pop, but a karaoke cover version is not pop. That is pop devoid of even the futile attempt at copying something new. The Beatles were 'pop', they sold and created. Bowie was 'pop', he sold and created. You can maintain your integrity and sell records. You just need the talent to write a good tune and these muppets have NONE of that. This is Big Brother pop, this is manufactured pop and using the TV time to tell you it is pop. "This is the pop you need to consume because it was on your TV" kind of pop...just like a free commercial. That isn't real music.

The numbers don't lie. They tell us that people are stupid and that celebrity culture has gone too far. You need to be a talented person in order to deserve the right to make an album. However this constant dumbing down in the age of the internet basically means that new talent will be harder to find and that we will be more and more strewn with dullards interpreting old songs on TV shows like this. Instead we could be getting music with new bands trying out new things, but instead we get Susan Boyle.