x-factor: is it a plague on our society?

[fullbleed]

It gives average to no talent bimbos the chance to apear on TV everynight for what not apears to be 9 months at a time. And then everyone will be Radio 1 a dozen times or so in the future and they'll be on chat shows and live from studio five. And the winner will have a best selling album and make a ton of cash for what is the most hideously glorified version of karaoke ever. Musical talent and song writting ability not required what so ever. Mean while real musicians will struggle for years to achive recognition getting by on a Myspace fan base.

And Simon Cowel will crack his evil smile and glee fully rub his sweaty hands together and tiny plebs arrive to spoon buckets of cash onto his grotesque pile while pitifully sqeaking "Wagner plz".
To which he will reply "WHATEVER" and raise his fat pus filled arse and fart out whatever new compilation of 80s pop songs covered by a talentless tesco shop assistant that he chose alone.
And the people will sqeal with delight like fat pigs in filth and roll in Simon's collective shit, and they will like it.
And it will never end.

...

This is happening people.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

My opinion? It's Shit.
The sooner we get rid of shows like this the sooner we can have good stuff on like....umm....Terror Is Reality?

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I can't say that I don't know of X-Factor, but I honestly have no personal experience of X-Factor: literally the only context I even hear the name is from people online complaining about it. Huzzah for being an American? That particular phenomenon is of course one of the myriad reasons I tune out discussions of mainstream music and never even contemplate turning on a radio, but at least I've never born witness to X-Factor itself.

Of course, I have to put up with residing in an entire household who actually watch/care about the outcome of American Idol, so I don't think I'm really that much better off (at least one of them is only interested in schadenfreude of watching people humiliate themselves on national television, but the rest of the family actually likes that crap). They are completely insufferable.

 

[PureChaos]

the current one is. if all the people were decent singers then fine but this year is awful. OK, there are a few that are good but there should be more than a few good acts when there were 12 acts in the final. apparently there will be another 3 seasons.

my biggest gripe: HOW THE HELL IS WAGNER STILL IN IT?

 

[_tinned_magpie_]

I have to admit: I used to find X-Factor entertaining. Me and my mother would make a night of it, order in some food and mock the contestants. We don't mind the music either. But now it's not even laughable any more. The contestants barely have any talent, the judges can't stop snarling at each other and sob stories abound. Any that do deserve to win are ultimately shafted by either the one who's only moderately talented but the tweens fancy, or that one gimmicky piece of crap that inevitably clings to the airwaves for years after (Fucking Jedward. And by the looks of things, that fucking Wagner). We watched this year same as always, and spent the whole time either fast-forwarding through because we were bored, or sticking the middle finger up at whoever was being the most annoying or pretentious.

And the sob stories? Sod off ITV. How many times do you have to tell us that this woman's singing for her dead daddy? Even the most bleeding-heart people I know are sick of that little tactic.

One thing that still makes me laugh though is the dramatic orchestral music they always play at the start, as though this crap were some epic battle. Now whenever I hear 'O Fortuna' I snigger. It's hilariously misplaced.

Basically, all the fun bits have stagnated or been chipped away. Some of them really can sing, but they're outshone by everything else. Time to let this ship sink.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Spoiler: The best way to deal with shows like X-factor.

OT: Yup, its a plague alright. Its quite worrying that more people care about it than who runs a country.

 

[Sammi Costello]

It is a plague on my art form, anyone who likes x factor has no understanding of music

I can't figure out if they make people idiots or pander directly to them, i'm guessing they were already idiots, in which case bit safer they aren't voting

I tend not to watch it, but this year I have a vested interested. If Wagner wins, they'll hopefully think about seriously rethinking the whole thing, and that'll mean it's off the screens for a year or 2. I mean, Wagner can't sing, so if he wins, it proves once and for all what we all knew all along: X-Factor isn't a singing competition.

We all know it isn't a singing competition it's a popularity competition and if everyone votes for some guy who can't sing it will just prove something else we already know, that the british people love the absurd

We do indeed, love the absurd. Hell, we even have a dish called "Spotted Dick". Americans can't compete with that, no matter how much cheese they put in a can =P.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

It is a plague on my art form, anyone who likes x factor has no understanding of music

I can't figure out if they make people idiots or pander directly to them, i'm guessing they were already idiots, in which case bit safer they aren't voting

I tend not to watch it, but this year I have a vested interested. If Wagner wins, they'll hopefully think about seriously rethinking the whole thing, and that'll mean it's off the screens for a year or 2. I mean, Wagner can't sing, so if he wins, it proves once and for all what we all knew all along: X-Factor isn't a singing competition.

We all know it isn't a singing competition it's a popularity competition and if everyone votes for some guy who can't sing it will just prove something else we already know, that the british people love the absurd

We do indeed, love the absurd. Hell, we even have a dish called "Spotted Dick". Americans can't compete with that, no matter how much cheese they put in a can =P.

Yes the Americans answer to everything is "make it the biggest it can be" low quality, high quantity

The english, we tend to know better but indulge in guilty pleasures, oh and we are rude too

 

[badgersprite]

This is some old-testament God vs. Egypt shit right here.

 

[fletch_talon]

Art is supposed to be an expression of human emotion

You lost me right there.
Art can be an expression of human emotion.
The best art often is an expression of human emotion.
Art does not have to be an expression of human emotion.

Art is entertainment, its supposed to be enjoyed. If it has some deeper meaning or message in the meantime, all the better. However I don't believe such things should be considered a requirement.

In saying all that, I should mention that I didn't claim everything is of the same artistic merit. I said that you shouldn't be an elitest prick just because you think someone's tastes in music have less merit. Considering my own mother watches this show, I may be considered slightly biased. However I think its a tad strong to call people idiots and/or mindless sheep, just for liking a certain style of music.

 

[Pariah87]

I don't watch or get involved with the X-Factor. I dislike the show on principle, it is a money making machine, just like any other phone in vote show. It exists solely to make Simon Cowell rich, and he's doing it off the back of the working/middle classes.

The only other judge who can potentially make money off this venture is Louis, he isn't allowed to sign up winners but he picks the most marketable of the rest, JLS and John/Edward as examples. Regardless of who the mentor was, the winner then becomes the employee of Simon, and he uses them tirelessly for a year to rinse as much money out of people as he can before before dropping the act and starting again.

I know pretty much everything does it, games are no exception, people want our money to make themselves richer. I just don't get how so many people can get swept up by it. More people care about who stays in a tv show another week rather than who runs the country? Really?

A harsh metaphor maybe, but people in large numbers are like insecure people in relationships. They get shit, they get used, abused, controlled and because they have lost all sense of independance and thought they go back to the abusive partner everytime, begging for more.

 

[Vigormortis]

more and more of our population are being struct down with a zombie virus called "factor-x". If you consider someone to be a zombie look out for these signs: they have a dreadful taste in music, they dont go outside on saturdays and they make reference they grunt the words "wagner" and "cher". These zombies are talking over both our TV and music, there are also more of these zombies than there are voters

^joking aside^ x-factor has significantly lowered the quality of our TV programs and music. Also the fact the more people vote on x-factor than general elections is seriously worrying.

do you agree with me that this program has turned our population into mindless zombies who cant make an informed decision on what music they like but instead have to get someone else to make that decision?

To answer your thread title. Yes. Yes it is.

Why? Well, beyond what most people have talked about so far, X-Factor is going to be the death of Fringe. Fringe is one of the only shows on Fox worth watching anymore. It's exquisitely written and directed and stars a fantastic cast. However, because Fox feels compelled to give X-Factor one of the best time slots during the week, Tuesdays, they are moving Fringe to the 9 o'clock Friday slot. What is commonly known here as "the TV death zone". Seems Fox is all but determined to kill the show. They haven't done any significant advertisements for the show since season 1 and constantly preempt the show with sporting events or other shows and never bother to announce the new air time. It would seem to me that this is just another great show being sucked down into the void by Fox. Just like Firefly. Just like John Doe. Just like Arrested Development. F#ck you Fox. F#ck you X-Factor. And, f#ck you Simon Cowell.

Sorry, had this rant bottled up and had to vent. Apologies.

 

[Nouw]

Sums up my feelings. If you know Gorillaz history, this should make even more sense!
Reject false Icons

 

[Tipsy Giant]

Art is entertainment, its supposed to be enjoyed.

You lost me right there.

Art isn't entertainment, it's not always supposed to be enjoyable, it is sometimes the least enjoyable thing in the world but it connects with us and we share the emotion of the song.

We shan't agree here as I think that prefabricated music is the bane of the art form, the canned laughter sitcom of the musical spectrum

 

[EmzOLV]

I can't stand X Factor. I just can't. I know more about it from my facebook than I do from actually watching it, and from those comments alone I already know who I hate and I already can kinda guess what each of them are like.

I don't know if it is a 'plague' or whether it has economical value, but for my own sweet, sweet sanity I think it should go away and leave me alone. I really don't care what Simon Cowell or Cheryl Cole are up to, I don't care how many mums like Louis or however you spell his name and I don't even remember who else judges it, but guess what, I don't care.

If these people were any good as singers... no wait, if they were actually vocalists[/b[ and they actually had made an effort to be a professional in their career path before X Factor made it so accessible to have a one hit wonder, they would already be signed with a major label and performing. You know, because someone would have recognised their talent and their motivation.

How come people go on this show by first saying "well my mum thought I should give it a go" turn out to be good and then suddenly it's all "oh my god I've waiting for this my whole life and this means so much to me?" Load. Of. BS. Seriously? Your whole life? No way. One would have thought you would have actually tried writing your own songs or putting on gigs and so on, but nooooo looks like this one lucky break just happened to be lucky enough for you because you wished soooo hard and it happened.

Gah. I'm in a bad mood anyway, but TL;DR I hate X Factor and it can kiss the fattest part of my ass.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I'm glad that I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about

 

[loc978]

huh. never heard of it.

...probably because I haven't watched TV anywhere but the internet in a few years.

 

[DarthMudcrab]

Art is entertainment, its supposed to be enjoyed.

You lost me right there.

Art isn't entertainment, it's not always supposed to be enjoyable, it is sometimes the least enjoyable thing in the world but it connects with us and we share the emotion of the song.

We shan't agree here as I think that prefabricated music is the bane of the art form, the canned laughter sitcom of the musical spectrum

I'm with Tipsy here. While part of the purpose of any artform is to entertain, it is also to inspire, to provoke thought, and to question what most of society takes for granted. When an artist looks at the world he sees things askew where others see order, problems where others see normality, and happiness in all the little things that most people don't notice.

okay, so i'm romanticizing the nature and work of an artist. but my point it, they're outsiders. true artists are outsiders, not flat-headed shmucks who just want to get in the limelight. with modernity and the power it's given the middle and working class has come the warhol-esque 15 minutes of fame being sought by all and sundry. It's apalling, and it creates a vacuum that has to be filled with such tripe as X-Factor.

However, i don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I think that the music industry is in the process of undergoing a Schism at the moment. more and more, the listeners of one type of music will be completely segregated from the other. that is, people who appreciate and like music as an art form unto itself will continue to seek their more "artistic" music from other sources. people who like music because it's something they can dance to, sing along to or watch the video clip to and exclaim how hot the singers are are falling more on the "entertainment" side of the curve. what's happening is the real music fans are becoming more passionate as a whole, and the people who are in it for the trend are getting weeded out and sent back to places like X-factor where they can embarrass themselves in front of their own kind. they're getting their spectacle, we're getting rid of them.

TL;DR the music industry is splitting into the "music as art" industry and the "music as entertainment" industry.

 

[fletch_talon]

Art is entertainment, its supposed to be enjoyed.

You lost me right there.

Art isn't entertainment, it's not always supposed to be enjoyable, it is sometimes the least enjoyable thing in the world but it connects with us and we share the emotion of the song.

We shan't agree here as I think that prefabricated music is the bane of the art form, the canned laughter sitcom of the musical spectrum

I'm with Tipsy here. While part of the purpose of any artform is to entertain, it is also to inspire, to provoke thought, and to question what most of society takes for granted. When an artist looks at the world he sees things askew where others see order, problems where others see normality, and happiness in all the little things that most people don't notice.

okay, so i'm romanticizing the nature and work of an artist. but my point it, they're outsiders. true artists are outsiders, not flat-headed shmucks who just want to get in the limelight. with modernity and the power it's given the middle and working class has come the warhol-esque 15 minutes of fame being sought by all and sundry. It's apalling, and it creates a vacuum that has to be filled with such tripe as X-Factor.

However, i don't necessarily think this is a bad thing. I think that the music industry is in the process of undergoing a Schism at the moment. more and more, the listeners of one type of music will be completely segregated from the other. that is, people who appreciate and like music as an art form unto itself will continue to seek their more "artistic" music from other sources. people who like music because it's something they can dance to, sing along to or watch the video clip to and exclaim how hot the singers are are falling more on the "entertainment" side of the curve. what's happening is the real music fans are becoming more passionate as a whole, and the people who are in it for the trend are getting weeded out and sent back to places like X-factor where they can embarrass themselves in front of their own kind. they're getting their spectacle, we're getting rid of them.

TL;DR the music industry is splitting into the "music as art" industry and the "music as entertainment" industry.

I'm afraid you're both wrong. Simple as that.
As I said, art can be, and often is more than just something pretty. But its only requirement is that it stimulates people's senses and emotions. This can be as simple as being a picture that looks pretty, or as complex as a sculpture which invokes feelings and reflects the artists "inner soul".

If someone paints a portrait of someone is it not art? If someone paints a landscape, is it not art?
In both these cases, the artist will often intend nothing more than painting what is there as realistically as possible. Again, as with any art form, it is possible to see a deeper meaning within the work (even if the artist didn't intend it) but that is not what makes it art.

TL;DR
Dictionary.com says it quite well in my opinion.

Definition of Art
the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.

Please note the "or" in bold.