Despite what Simon Cowell thinks, this is not a personal vendetta against him. This not a personal vendetta against Joe or Olly either – both whom I’ve found to actually be entertaining (although not enough to buy a single from either of them just yet).
No, this is a vendetta against the X-Factor concept, and how the pop charts are being hijacked by talented amateurs being manipulated by untalented professionals (choosing piss poor cover songs or original songs seemingly written by 5 year olds). This is also for a bit of fun (will RATM actually overtake the X-Factor single? Very unlikely, but I’d much rather my money went elsewhere, thankyouverymuch, even if the RATM and the X-Factor single share the same record label (Sony) – I much rather see Sony see their established artists get the vote than this).
What I absolutely dislike about the X-Factor is that the business “professionals” behind it are exploiting these new, wide-eyed amateurs, and Cowell recently spoke to the press to say that this campaign is unfair to the contestants for whom the X-Factor is the only way to get them into the business quickly. Well, Mr. Cowell, life is unfair. It’s terribly bloody unfair. But you deal with it and get on with things. I don’t particularly think it’s fair that life should deny my wife and I the ability to have biological children, but hey, we’ve moved on. We deal with things as they happen, and Cowell and the winner has got to do the same. When you get right down to it, it’s a bloody singing competition, for crying out loud.
The X-Factor is no guarantee of a secure future and Cowell is being immensely cruel and irresponsible to these poor sods if he keeps telling them that they’re going to be hugely successful and loads of no.1 singles and albums. They don’t know that for certain. And should their career come crashing down around them, who is going to look after them then? Not Cowell, not Sony, not anybody.
Therefore I lend my full support behind the Jon Morter campaign to get Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing in the Name” to the number one spot in the Christmas pop charts (currently Facebook only, but I believe it is to get it’s own web site soon) to knock out any X-Factor single. The winner of the X-Factor has got to realise that showbusiness is tough, and that they’re going to be exploited left, right and centre – even by the public. The sooner the winner knows and learns from this, the better.
I’ve also said in a previous post that music professionals, many who have spent decades honing their craft, aren’t getting a fair crack at the whip any more. This is true. But just as I’ve said about life isn’t unfair, they’re professional enough to recognise that shows like the X-Factor are the current trend (and that the public have no taste at all), and perhaps that’s why they don’t bother to release at Christmas unless they know they’re in a strong enough position to do so. And all professionals were amateurs themselves once, so perhaps they can see that aspect in the X-Factor and are willing to concede to give these young upstarts a chance (although they had no such luxury of a TV talent show, and had to work much harder to secure the contacts that they had to get them into the business of show in the first place).
Either way I’d rather see a professional pop song released than a mish-mash of nonsense brought forth by a TV talent show. And besides, we’ve not had a good Christmas tune with the word “fuck” in it for a good while (well, not least since Kirsty MacColll and The Pogue’s Fairtytale of New York).
