You're the voice, try and understand it.
Following my X-Factor rant in the last update, I had a conversation with someone in which a TV show called "The Voice" came up.
The Voice is a similar show to X-Factor in that it's essentially a singing contest, but the difference is the contestants are initially judged on their voice alone and not looks.
The contestant comes on and sings to a panel of judges whose chairs are turned away from them, if a judge likes what they hear they press a button and their chair spins around so they face the contestant.
I'm not so naive to think that the judges haven't already seen the contestants milling around the studio but if there is a genuine privacy and they haven't then good on them.
I guess the point of the show is not to judge a book by its cover, it's what's coming out of the mouth that's important.
TV influences the music industry so much more than it ever has; for an artist to be truly successful they have to be good looking or fit in with current trends, regardless of whether they really can sing, dance, act etc.
It's no wonder society is in such a state and that kids can't understand how the world really works when they're being lied to via mediums they're supposed to trust.
Occasionally the general public will allow a "non-beautiful" through, more from pity than anything else and totally against the wishes of the moronic judges.
In the case of X-Factor (or Pop Idol or Sing-Sing-Monkey-Boy) there was the car crash that was Rik Waller.
Rik made into the last 10 contestants of Pop idol before pulling out due to illness and signed a recording contract which released 2 songs. Rik then disappeared into the ether, and is now an exam invigilator.
And let's not forget Riks also fat, also "non beautiful" foil Michelle McManus. Michelle won Pop Idol 2003, had a number one hit followed by a top 16 chart, followed by obscurity.
Sometimes talent shines through the looks, after all, does it really matter what someone looks like if they're singing? In hindsight with both of the above, I never rated them but Michelle having had a smash number one could have gone on to many more hits, if she didn't look like she bled gravy.
Look back to the 60's, 70's and 80's when for the majority of the record companies it was about the music and not the looks. Sure there were manufactured groups back then, The Monkees is a classic example but look at how many people had brilliantly successful careers.
Phil Collins had a fantastic career both with Genesis and as a solo act, would Alison Moyet have been able to break through in the modern world if she wasn't an established artist? Having had a career where she looked like a man in Yazoo to looking like a lesbian during the late 80's she was still a much loved artist. She'd stand no chance of making it from scratch in the current climate.
The same for Boy George and Culture Club, Adam Ant and Simply Red.
Going further back to the 70's, I reckon at least 75% of artists would have absolutely no way of making a career in music these days. There were more wizard-like beards, crooked and bad teeth than you could shake a stick at, and the men were no better either.
Even the 90's where things really started to change and half the chart was manufactured dirge would be laughed off stage these days. How did Scooch have a career?
No really.
I find it sad that people's looks are taken into account before their talent is judged, it shouldn't matter should it? In this day and age where we're encouraged to be politically correct, non-sexist, non-agist and non-racist the TV and music industry is standing hand-in-hand as a pair of devils, here to fuck over the dreams of people with genuine talent in place of some talentless-yet-attractive, vapid clothes horse.
