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The Blackpool factor

Published Tuesday 18 November 2008 at 10:05

Why are The X Factor panellists Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh often derogatory about cabaret, hotels and cruise ships, when discussing artists’ talents?

Louis Walsh compared a contestant to acts who worked “the end of the Pier” or in Blackpool, suggesting such artists are inferior. Why? Can’t excellent singers play Blackpool or end of the pier shows, as they have done for decades?

Joe Longthorne is an example of a singer who has enjoyed success and longevity, and on the pier or anywhere else, he is a class act.

Many of our best acts, both experienced and new, can be found working these places as well as the working men’s clubs, which still hold a vast array of talent. Yet it is unlikely that today’s big talent-spotters would set foot in the venues where the majority of lesser-known talents perform.

Many artists are struggling to keep full diaries in the present climate, but many of them do have an act - something that may be lacking in some talent show contestants. In saying that, talent has and still will be discovered through shows such as The X Factor, although fame can be fleeting.

Fame, celebrity and hit records may be the be-all and end-all on TV shows, yet it will be those who have perfected their craft in various media who will be the best entertainers, whether it be on a top TV show, the end of the pier or in the smallest working men’s club. That is, if such venues manage to survive.

Pam Watford

Carlton Road

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

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