Have you heard? Cheryl Cole is coming back as a judge on the X Factor! But let’s be honest does anyone really care? It’s not just because it’s Cheryl Cole, even though she’s about as exciting as a wet piece of cardboard: it’s because it’s X Factor and reality talent shows in general.
When stuff like Pop Idol, Britain’s Got Talent or X Factor first came out it was new and exciting. Stars were no longer just these people you saw in glossy magazines who lived in swanky mansions in Beverly Hills. They could be people like you or me: normal people who lived in normal neighbourhoods. These shows produced inspiring tales of people who perhaps never would have ‘made it’ under normal circumstances: they weren’t the right weight or height, they didn’t have the look. But suddenly that didn’t matter anymore: if they could win the public over then they were on the fast track to superstardom before you could get a sob story out about your Nan.
Now, however, these shows are no longer revolutionary, no longer something new. They’ve become annual events in the TV calendar: something you endure if nothing else is on. Winners go on to produce one or two forgettable hits before fading into the terrible world of “semi-fame”. They’re no longer stars but they can’t go back to working in Tesco, so they go back to reality TV. Take Joe McElderry (who?): including the X Factor he’s been in three different reality shows and won every single one but Simon Cowell dropped him from his label after just one album.
Talent and reality shows have become staler than month-old birthday cake: that’s why they’re becoming more and more extreme and ridiculous as channels try to compete for dwindling audiences. That’s why we’ve ended up with monstrosities like Splash and The Jump. So suit-wearing execs take note and come up with something new for a change.