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| TV,
Jerry Carpenter,
15 January 2001 |
Rating: F2
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I wanted to review C4’s ‘Making the band’, but the series finished before I’d got to grips with it’s manic sadistic appeal. Shame, because the documentary about the formation of a boy band comprising of five of the world’s most insane humanoids was some of the best TV from last year. No matter then, because ITV have nabbed the pop docu-drama format, adapted it to make TV mincemeat of huge groups of young UK pop wannabies and called this culling of our young ‘Popstars’.
This just HAS to be fantastic really, doesn’t it? Scoring stratospherically high on the evil voyeur stakes, this show supplies amazing footage of the young uns baring their fame-lusting souls. Watching the majority of these kids crack up onscreen, either losing their voices and cranking out tone deaf interpretations of Bobbie Williams and Britney or just going to pieces beforehand in showers of sweat and tears is stunning stuff. There’s the full range of human emotions here, with loads of bitterness and resentment flying around as the teens make tits of themselves.
The process is enormous, almost too big to get a handle on as the three judges whittle down a short list of 160 Steps-a-likes from the thousands of hopefuls swarming around the various UK venues. The judges themselves are a right bunch of buggers, ladling out harsh criticism and sledge hammering the fragile egos effortlessly. These three ‘pop professionals’, Billie’s manager, some Terry Venebles clone, and a crumbly fellow who looks like Richard Madley’s mutated brother pull few punches when confronted by the lamer talents, and even get all school teachery when the kids misbehave – two of them are confronted for talking and pulling faces in the audience, given a stern talking to, then ejected from the premises !
ITV Saturdays 17.55
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