Haven't seen very much of Peter Kay's past work (love his John Smith ads!), but anything or anyone taking a pot-shot at the UK's current depressing and seemingly never-ending fascination for reality TV's pop-idol making machine will get my attention and if done well, vote. Trouble here is that in this apparently updated for Christmas special, I'm not sure if Kay loves or loathes his target subject and for me he really has to make up his mind. If anything, in fact, I suspect the former, as we get endless numbers of him in wardrobe-busting frocks "dragging"-out one big production-number after another ad-nauseum. The joke works at first as he hilariously takes on songs no diva should touch (a point ironically driven home by subsequent events with 2008 X-Factor winner Alexandra's Burke's desecration of Leonard Cohen's anthemic "Jerusalem" - talk about life imitating art!) but this soon grates although it may of course be his own post-ironical statement on the tedious stretching out of all the Pop-Idol/X Factor/Britain's Got talent shows over endless weeks - I'm kidding of course, I don't think Kay's that clever! It's not escaped my notice either that the "Winner's Song" Kay trills here has been released to the general public (and naturally is high on the Xmas charts as I write). Kay would like us to think he's accurately lambasting the whole, to my way of thinking, odious bigging up of pub-standard karaoke wannabe singers to mega-stardom (Leona Lewis anyone?), but despite occasionally hitting home with necessarily tasteless and therefore slightly shocking moments with performances by a dwarf boy-band or part-disabled boy/girl band (the joke's all in their name - "2 Up 2 Down") and getting some major celebrity help (from Sir Paul McCartney no less), you know that the hand that feeds isn't going to get bitten too hard here. McCartney gets well rewarded for his time, with no fewer than three of his career-worst songs getting dusted off en-route ("Ebony and Ivory", "The Frog Chorus" and "Wonderful Christmastime"...more post-ironic satire perhaps but I fear again that both Kay and Macca think these are all wonderful tunes ripe for re-discovery, even with a laugh and a joke!). Of course I've never watched any of the original source reality shows but you just try to avoid them on your TV, on-line browser or daily newsstand once they get into their swing... I didn't laugh enough here to make me overlook that I'd effectively been conned into watching a too close-for-comfort and far too reverential tibute to reality TV.
Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice
(2008 TV Movie)
X misses the spot
22 December 2008