Lifestyle

The Saturday Night Indulgence

It’s the time of year after the clocks have gone back, the temperature is lowering and we all run back to our living rooms like hermit crabs. Whereas just a few months ago we would have happily gone out of a Saturday evening, these days we are much more comfortable wrapped up and stuffing Doritos into our faces with a metaphorical fire burning in the corner. The annual television competitions have begun again and although every year I say things will be different, that I’ll use that time to read a book, do some writing, or bake a cake, in reality  I’m sat there watching them too.

Every year the debate rages, who will win in the ratings war between the glittering campfest Strictly Come Dancing and Cowell’s juggernaut of a show X Factor. This storyline dominates newspapers, is spoken of on morning TV and is debated in staff rooms across the country.  Their monopoly of weekend telly is as much of a certainty as death and taxes and yet we are still obsessed with these shows which every year keep us stuck to our sofas. The year Will Young won Pop Idol more people voted than in the General election, but these days we are all much more aware of the clichés and techniques used to keep us hooked.

A quick ask around some of my friends revealed that not one of them had voted for a contestant on a TV talent show, certainly not recently. Of course, this was by no means an extensive study, but it seems to me these shows have lost some of their sparkle. The same way that years of exposure have made us numb to seeing a murder in a Television drama, we’ve become anesthetised to the exaggerated hand gestures contestants make as they plea for votes. We have lost all interest in hearing another person tell us that they are competing for the sake of their child/grandmother/jaded parent and “want this more than anything else in the world”. We recognise the cookie cutter contestant types- the 28 year old who goes on about this being his “last chance” as if the SS are coming to collect him tomorrow, the person we vaguely recognise who had a taste of fame ten years ago, but now wants it back and the ubiquitous Liverpudlian who seems to be a contestant every year, despite being from a relatively small city. We also know that winning one of these shows is by no means a guarantee of fame, recognition and acclaim- very few can name every past winner of X Factor and I’m certainly not one of them.

There is a certain snobbery attached to Strictly Come Dancing which makes it the Saturday night domain of the middle classes. Certainly whilst the format of these shows remains the same,  for many because the show focuses more on technical ability and is supported by a judging line up made from more prestigious backgrounds, (it is hard to deny the lustre Darcey Bussell has next To Louis Walsh) means that the show is not considered anywhere as much a guilty pleasure. The show is also less commercial, with less time allocated to keeping the voting lines open and  the proceeds from the phone votes go to helping Children in Need, which means the show always seems for want of a better word, less “shady” than it’s ITV competitor. However, whilst the show garners a higher level of respect than X Factor it still shares the same premise, the belief that fame can be (re)generated through frenzied weekly exposure up to Christmas.

Winter Saturday nights

Despite waning viewing ratings these shows are still attractive to us for simple reasons. For X factor the public are given a certain excitement in knowing that an “ordinary” person, the fledgling singer they are watching could be on the verge of becoming a great superstar and for Strictly Come Dancing there is an excitement in watching a waning career be given a boost through the power of sequins and a badly executed foxtrot. Strictly cleverly takes a familiar face already ingrained in the public consciousness to be viewed a certain way, then spins them into a new identity- literally. It’s thrilling to see a TV pundit learn to jive, or see the anchor on the six o’clock news turn a tango even if the dancing is more feverish than Saturday Night Fever, and humiliation is more likely than a renewed career no one can deny it’s fun to see a former Olympian in a ball gown.

These shows now feel like tradition, and I’d be sad to see them go. Yes- Bruce Forsyth’s jokes are really not funny, like at all, and I’ll agree that the 2 ½ hour that marathon that X factor has become is bordering on the absurd, but I’ll keep watching, playing fifth judge from my sofa and laughing at Tulisa squabbling with Gary Barlow. No- these shows are not good for the brain, my IQ probably lowers a point every Saturday night, but short of sticking on a DVD there isn’t really a way to escape. Besides, I’d miss them if they were gone. So hello, my name’s Jessica , I’m pretty sensible in all other areas of my life but I am addicted to TV talent shows.

Click to comment
To Top