Schedules have a funny way of working out. On the same week that the Season 10 tour ended here in the Philippines, Simon Cowell’s much-awaited (or, at least, much-promoted) show, The X Factor, premiered in the US. So as the final steps of this season’s Idol journey ended, viewers at home were provided with what Simon thought a reality talent show ought to look like.
Before I go to that, though, the tour. I’m not going to do a full concert report, but: it was a fantastic show, and frankly even some contestants that I beat on during the season are much more entertaining on the stage than they ever were on the small screen. (For a full report of how the Idols were received, I suggest this recap by local radio personality Chico Garcia.)
The one thing that stands out watching this group live was the talent level. We knew that coming in, but it’s even more apparent live. Yes, you can hide some flaws with a live concert that live TV will brutally expose. But you have to have something to work with first – and with this group, you did. In spades. The basic truth of American Idol is that a successful season needs a talented “cast”. Without it, a season fails. It really is that simple.
Which brings us to The X Factor. The hype for Simon Cowell’s new show was… well, a bit excessive, to say the least. It should have utterly demolished its competition the way Idol has been doing so fairly reliably for years, righ?
Not so fast. Early numbers are a little grim. Short version: X Factor won it’s first hour, but was beaten by Modern Family in its second. In the key 18-49 demographic, it did worse than the other new singing reality show of the year, The Voice. Somewhere in Hollywood, Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller are laughing evilly, and Simon Cowell is probably cursing out a poor Fox flunky. Or wanting a refund on the millions he’s thrown at his PR people.
Some – maybe even most - TV pundits may be surprised to see such a highly promoted show do so poorly, but I’m not. We’d already seen what a Cowell-run show would be like. Seasons Eight and Nine of Idol were a perfect preview of what X Factor would be like – and those were seasons where he had others to restrain him. On X Factor, no one will dare say no. We may all be seeing a slow motion wreck in progress.
If Chinese philosophy has the yin and the yang, talent shows have Spectacle and Talent. The two Idol seasons that Simon dominated backstage were loaded with Spectacle – and, particularly in the second year, lacked for Talent. Based on the premiere, X Factor was even more so. Given how poorly the Idolsphere – and the public – reacted back then, was there any reason to think that this year would be any different?
Aside from the overdose of Spectacle, however, X Factor has another problem. Much of the spectacle this particular show uses has become downright rancid. Simon Cowell made his mark as the “brutally honest” judge a decade ago, but over the years it had become more brutal and less honest. The Simon-Paula buddy act was overshadowed by the fact that Paula was completely out of her mind. Was there ever a huge demand to see all of this again? Really? Really?
Now, it’s very premature to call it a flop. If it were anything but a Simon Cowell super-production, these numbers would be healthy. After all, coming in second to the big winner of the just-held Emmy Awards? And, while his image and reputation may have been sullied and reduced since its height in the mid-2000s, it’s still worth a lot of viewers. A show with Simon Cowell isn’t going to be a total stinker as far as ratings go.
What it isn’t, however, is the Idol-killer that it was all hyped up to be. As it turns out, the American viewing audience is very sensitive to talent levels in their singing shows. Unless X Factor turns out to actually have a deep pool of great talent – and frankly, there isn’t much to indicate that will be the case – it will be a long, long season for Simon Cowell.
And that, in and of itself, is priceless.
