I Love tv!

I love TV! There I said it. I’m not one of those people who feel embarrassed because they like watching television, “…of course we only have a television for the children” or “..well there was a space in the corner of the room so…” or “its for the sport” or bla..bla.., why do some people have a hard time admitting to the truth that most of us love watching tv, it’s entertainment for goodness sake. Let’s celebrate the wonder of the technology that is Television.

A tv programme really stands out when the unexpected happens, that Susan Boyle moment when the hairs on the back of your neck stand out and you feel a shiver going through your body – those are the moments to relish and it has to be said that they do tend to happen on reality tv shows or talent contests. That is what I want to celebrate in my blog and on my You Tube channel etvable.

Why did Susan Boyle receive so many hits on YouTube, why did the public react the way they did? It’s something to do with how we emotionally react to her and particularly to the very skilfully edited footage of her original audition in Scotland. We saw a middle aged frumpy slightly eccentric lady who had “never been kissed” and we, along with the judging panel thought …here we go again another loser who can’t put two notes together, but that notion was very quickly turned on its head as soon as she started singing and the delivery was completely different to our expectation. We were on her side supporting her, feeling sympathy for her and reduced to tears by the end of her performance. You can’t script something like that, it’s really happening in tv land. It’s been carefully edited with the right amount of emotional face shots, the mood music has been added and hey presto we are watching some glossy soap opera.

What happened next is tv history. The success on YouTube, the huge worldwide interest and the enormous pressure that suddenly was directed at Susan to do it again in the semi-finals and the final of the contest. I am not surprised she was starting to crack under the pressure, wouldn’t anyone in that position.

Last Saturday - same channel, different show although same format. The story depicted by the editing is Simon is feeling grumpy, he’s got a headache it’s been a bad day and they haven’t seen much talent. Danni tells Simon to be nice to the contestants, then on walks Danyl Johnson and it’s that Susan Boyle moment all over again. It turns out to be a standing ovation from the judges and the best first audition Simon has ever seen. Pure TV gold – goose bump tv. Don’t you love it!