This posting contains the results so don't read if you have videoed it! lol
After the discussion on here recently about Ms Boyle, I was wondering what others think of the whole thing. From a personal point of view, I must say that I thought it was one of the best nights of television I have seen in some time - blowing something like the X-Factor out of the water. Perhaps it was the fact that programme concentrates on the acts themselves rather than their sob stories which is particularly refreshing. Ok, some of the semi-finals were a farce, but I cannot deny that I was well and truly entertained tonight. And there is nothing wrong with good old fashioned entertainment. Talent shows have their critics and always will have, but in the UK in the last ten years they have produced acts like Will Young, Girls Aloud, Paul Potts, Leona Lewis to name a few - with others such as Gareth Gates, Ray Quinn, Rhydian, Sam and Mark (and more) less successful but still in showbusiness in one form or another (with two of that list currently having leads in the west end. I am not saying that these acts are all to my taste, but I can take a step back and say that all of them are very good at what they do. What's more, this is the one form in which variety has survived on television at the moment. The final tonight was actually of a very high standard (considering ten acts were featured instead of the two you would normally get in Idol or XFactor). I am, as it happens, pleased that Diversity won. Yes, it was a shock result, and that's no bad thing either. But their performance was original, sassy, funny and technically brilliant (from what i could see as a non-dancer!). My opinion of Susan Boyle was never very high as I have mentioned before. I found her voice harsh and with little emotional range - by that I mean that a power ballad has to build, not start loud and get louder. Tonight was her best performance I think, but I still couldn't see much light and shade there. Having said that, I wouldn't have wanted to be in her shoes over the last couple of months, having been thrown in the spotlight by the press and media in a way she never expected. Which brings me to the main thing I want to say. I am just relieved that people were not willing in the end to be dictated to by others. We have it drummed into us what films to go and see, what clothes to wear, what music to listen to and what books to read by publicity machines. For the last weeks the british public had been told who to vote for or, rather, who was the most special act in BGT. The fact that the public made their own mind up instead of just succumbing to pressure from the media made the final tonight (for me) a moving occasion for these more unusual reasons. Yes, I think the best act won, but I also think that people were willing to go against the grain for once - and that's got to be a refreshing change. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "English Learner's Cafe" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/english_learners?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
