X Factor Vs American Idol – Battle of the Music Shows

Posted by Tracy in Entertainment, TV

X Factor Vs American Idol the ultimate battle of the music talent show.

Now that we have finally seen the X factor USA in action and we have our first winner, Melanie Amaro, we are interested in what you think about the talent shows and tell us your views about the X Factor Vs American Idol debate.

Its major rival is the long running show American Idol and old hunting ground of the X Factor judge and driving force Simon Cowell.

So we have a couple of straw polls below, just vote on which show you thought was the best and who was your favourite judge.

We have our own opinions and would love to hear yours, so get opinionated below right now.

X Factor Vs American Idol Straw Poll

X Factor Vs American Idol: Judges the Judges

We thought both shows had their plus points and there was enough of a difference between the two shows to keep both healthy in the ratings.

Simon Cowell is always fun to watch, usually he tells the truth as he sees it but the X Factors USP of mentoring individual acts means that he is completely blinkered when it comes to his own acts.

Nothing wrong with that of course, one of the traits of successful people is that they intently focus on what they want to see in order to lead others in that direction. As a neutral viewer though it can be frustrating.

American Idol on the other hand has moved into the middle ground, a touchy feeley place that Simon Cowell would find uncomfortable.

Both The X Factor and American Idol have their fair share of winners and losers amongst the contestants. Some of it is painful to watch, some of it is inspiring to watch and some of it… well you just can’t take your eyes of it no matter how hard you try.

Tell us what you think about the X Factor Vs American Idol debate in the comments below.

X Factor USA Results Are In – Melanie Amaro Wins Final

Posted by Jo in Entertainment, TV

X Factor USA results are in and Melanie Amaro has triumphed after beating Josh Krajcik & Chris Rene in the final.

The first ever winner of the X Factor USA, Melanie Amaro, hails from Sunrise in Florida and has a formidable voice.

Her winners story is all the more remarkable because she was initially rejected by her mentor, Simon Cowell, at the judges houses stage of the competition & didn’t make it to the live shows.

However, Simon Cowell later had a change of heart & made a special journey to Amaros home in Florida. He admitted that he had made a mistake & asked her to take part in the live shows. The X factor USA voters obviously responded to her and her voice.

It is these little things that can make a big difference in how contestants are perceived & perhaps this initial rejection from Simon gave Amaro the back story she needed to really make an impact.

You need much more than just a good voice to win these competitions and whatever you may think about these talent shows, with over 100,000 people auditioning no one could ever say that it is easy.

Melanie Amaro walks away from the X Factor USA with a $5 million recording contract & an appearance in a TV ad. Possibly the biggest prize in TV today.

Josh Krajcik was runner up on the night & although he didn’t win he can be pretty sure of securing a contract of his own.

With a very distinctive and soulful voice he would translate to radioplay very easily & Simon Cowell is too savvy to let that slip away.

X Factor USA result & Melanie Amaro Video

X Factor USA – Who was your favorite?

OnLive Cloud Gaming Goes Live in the UK

Posted by James in Gaming, Technology

OnLive cloud gaming goes live in the UK today after a year of operating in the US.

OnLive is the equivalent of a games console hosted in the cloud and is set to revolutionise how video games are played, bought and consumed.

OnLive allows a variety of devices to connect to it’s system including internet enabled TV’s and soon, more portable devices such as the iPad and the Android tablets.

You don’t need a games console in your living room anymore and because all of the OnLive processing power is hosted in the cloud, it doesn’t matter if you are accessing on a low spec machine.

The only fly in the OnLive ointment is of course the speed of your internet connection and the capacity of OnLive to deliver their service to millions of people at the same time.

OnLive insist that they have learned from their year of providing the service in the US and have everything in place to ensure that the UK service runs smoothly.

OnLive use some sophisticated compression techniques to make sure that any game played is as the developer intended.

However, I would recommend that you have a broadband connection capable of at least 2Mb/sec and it’s probably best to over 4Mb/sec.

Time will tell whether OnLive takes off but it represents another example of how cloud computing is set to change our lives.

There is no doubt that OnLive has multiple benefits, no expensive hardware to purchase & then upgrade (and/or fix, £100 + labour to fix my PS3!) being the most obvious. The OnLive technology will be automatically upgraded without you having to get involved at all.

I also think the OnLive renting model is much cheaper than the previous model of games buying that serious gamers were used to (console games can be upwards of £50, anyone remember the £1.99 8 bit computer days?!).

OnLive costs at the time of writing

• Free to register an account and play demos
• Monthly PlayPack subscription £6.99 a month
• Individual games from £1.99 and upwards
• Special launch promotion: first game purchase £1 (Deus Ex: Human Revolution anyone?!)
• Micro-console & controller (not needed if hardware is internet connected) is available for £69.99

iPlayer Goes Global with the BBC

Posted by Jeff in Entertainment, TV

iPlayer goes global today with the launch of a BBC iPad app containing the best of the BBC’s output.

The iPlayer iPad app will allow international viewers, initially from 11 European countries, to get access to on-demand streamed content from the BBC. Including classic programmes such as Faulty Towers & Only Fools and Horses, as well as up to date programming such as Doctor Who and Top Gear.

The iPlayer BBC download service is only available for UK users for a 7 day catch up and the live version only available if you have a UK TV license. The license is a annual fee every UK TV owner pays & is where the BBC gets it’s financing from. It means that they do not use any advertising.

Why is the iPlayer important?

Well, the iPlayer is one of the biggest, earliest and most successful streaming services on the market. It can stream content live or recorded, at a consistent high quality, including HD and cope with some serious load.

The BBC reported 145 million requests in December 2010 alone. It is also available for all formats including games consoles, mobiles, internet enabled TV’s or players.

Backing up this technical wizardry is the BBC corporation, the original TV broadcaster and it’s millions of hours of programmes. Programmes such as Top Gear are watched already by 100′s millions of viewers each week around the world on TV and this can only increase as the iPlayer goes global.

From today, for a monthly or yearly fee, European viewers can get access to what the BBC considers it’s best content via the iPlayer app on the iPad. Other formats will follow.

A US launch is likely to follow after the European launch. At the moment the BBC operates a cable channel in the US but it’s reach is limited.

Successful programmes usually get bought up by the big US channels and remade. This may give the BBC a stronger foothold in that market to push it’s own versions.

In the UK some of the most popular programs are the iPlayer Doctor Who version and the iPlayer EastEnders version. Both have a potential global audience of millions more viewers.

Other players in the UK market have their own versions. There is a ITV Player, a Channel 4 iPlayer, a Channel 5 iPlayer, an E4 iPlayer and a Sky iPlayer version. They are not all called the iPlayer but you get the drift. Some are more successful than others as they try and keep up with the BBC giant.

The BBC has been looking at sharing the iPlayer platform with other broadcasters, so it could be that they will switch onto the same technology and coding. As the BBC is publicly funded by the license fee it is often obliged to share it’s knowledge, experience and technology.

Dallas TV Show is Back – Money, Power & JR Ewing

Posted by Sam in Entertainment, TV

The all new Dallas TV show has been announced by US network TNT, airing in 2012.

They must be hoping that the new version will have the same intrigue, scandal and water cooler moments as the original 1980′s version.

To help bring some of the magic of the original Dallas TV show back the network have cast some of the original stars of the show.

Larry Hagman, who played JR Ewing in the original series will most definitely be back. At one point in the 80′s it seemed everyone in the Western world was talking about ‘who shot JR?’. Can JR get people talking again?

Also joining Larry are original members Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray. The new dallas tv show however, will centre around the new generation of the Ewing family.

Josh Henderson (90210) will play JR Ewing’s son and Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die) will play the son of Bobby Ewing. Expect family tensions and fireworks.

The Original Dallas TV Show

The original show ran from 1978 to 1991 in the US and broadcast to large audiences around the world. It quickly became one of the most successful TV dramas of all time.

Set in the oil rich state of Texas the show centred around the Ewing family of oil barons and cattle ranchers.

The rivalry of Bobby and JR Ewing for control of the Ewing business was always the centre of attention in the show and is what had people tuning in every week.

JR Ewing eventually lost control of most of the business and the new series will extend this rivalry to the next generation of Ewings.

Time will tell if the new dallas tv show can have the same impact on audiences as the old one; but we look forward to the fireworks, big hats and sinking oil wells.

Photo: MasonPelt

X Factor USA: Nicole Scherzinger Replaces Cheryl Cole on X Factor Judges Panel

Posted by Jo in Entertainment, TV

X Factor USA have confirmed Nicole Scherzinger’s move to the X Factor judges panel, replacing Cheryl Cole.

A statement on the FOX website about the X Factor judges move said,

FOX, FREMANTLEMEDIA NORTH AMERICA AND SYCO TV today confirm Nicole Scherzinger will be replacing Cheryl Cole on the judging panel of THE X FACTOR. Nicole will join Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid and Paula Abdul on their search across America to find the next global superstar or group to win the life-changing $5 million dollar recording deal. Nicole has previously joined Simon Cowell as a guest judge on The X Factor for the UK version of the show in 2010. Steve Jones will act as sole host of THE X FACTOR.

The X Factor USA made no mention of why the changes were implemented, the blogosphere has been gossiping about problems on the X Factor USA show for weeks; citing Cheryl’s homesickness, problems contestants had understanding her accent or a subdued personality.

Perhaps we will never know, Simon Cowell is never one to leave a contractual loose end and it might be feasible that Cheryl will keep quiet about why she was dropped from the X Factor judges panel.

With Nicole Scherzinger joining the X Factor judges panel it leaves Steve Jones as the sole host, we thought it was a curious decision to split the hosting and in hindsight it does appear that Nicole was always a backup plan, even if she wasn’t aware of it.

X Factor Judges Panel

We wish Simon, Nicole and Cheryl good luck with the X Factor USA and let’s face it, Cheryl is not going to be short of offers.

Photo: Leo Lavish

Oprah Winfrey Ends Chat Show After 25 Years

Posted by Sam in Entertainment, TV

With tears in her eyes, the talk show host Oprah Winfrey broadcasted the final show of Harpo Productions ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’.

Walking on stage she got a standing ovation from the audience and she thanked everyone for watching her show for 25 years.

She said “I always wanted to be a teacher and I ended up in the worlds biggest classroom.”

Oprah formed her own company, Harpo Productions, to produce the show and grew the enterprise into a billion dollar company over the years.

In that time it became the top rated daytime talk show in America and was syndicated across the world. Over 6 million people in the US were estimated to have watched the shows in the final season.

The Oprah Book Club was a major success in the show and boasted over 2 million members, a recommendation on the show could make an author overnight.

Oprah has also won 48 emmies for the talk show and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the movie ‘The Color Purple’.

Oprah now moves on to concentrate on running the cable TV network she has setup called OWN.

Photo: Alan Light

X Factor USA News Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones to Host Show

Posted by Tracy in Entertainment, TV

More X Factor USA news has emerged as Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones have been confirmed as the hosts for the new show.

Nicole Scherzinger will be instantly recognisable to US audiences and recently did a stint on the UK version of the X factor, as a guest judge, while Danni Minogue took maternity leave from the show.

As the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls Nicole has sold millions of records throughout the world and has the ability to dance as well as sing. She can say that she has ‘been there and done it’ to the contestants.

Steve Jones will be someone who is not recognisable to US audiences, much like judge Cheryl Cole. The Welshman could also have similar problems being understood too, he has quite a strong Welsh accent and a particular sense of humour that may or may not translate over to America.

He certainly has alot of presenting experience however, hosting some of the UK biggest shows and events although it was as a fashion model that marked his first steps into his career.

With 2 English judges and a Welshman hosting the show it looks like it will be a very trans-atlantic affair, will US audiences take to them or will they prefer the home grown style of American Idol. Time will tell.

I’ll leave the last word to Simon Cowell,

“These two are going to be great together, I have always wanted Steve to work with us; I think he is a real star. Nicole is fantastic. I loved working with her on the UK X Factor last year. She is gorgeous and super-talented.”

Photo: Leo Lavish

19 Year Old IT Tech Michael Collings Blows The Audience Away in Britains Got Talent

Posted by Tracy in Entertainment, TV

He walked on with his Guitar looking like he was about to go jogging, but Michael Collings left the Britain’s Got Talent stage to a standing ovation.

As soon as he started plucking the strings of his guitar there were signs of talent but it was his voice that really connected to the audience.

As the new season of Britain’s Got Talent, the programme that plucked Susan Boyle from obscurity, gets started, they must be excited that they found someone who has elicits similar expectations that subsequently get blown away.

Maybe not quite a SUBO moment but listen to the video (sound only) and let us know what you think in the comments below.

For more official videos of Michael Collings then you can
watch here