Pushing it too far

Now if you have been talking about TV this week the chances are you have been talking about Derren Brown and his lottery trick. Last week live on TV he put together a show where he proclaimed to have managed to predict all six lottery numbers that were going to be drawn. On the show you saw a set of balls on screen but could not see the numbers and then after the lottery had happened Derren turned them around and they did in fact match the lottery numbers that were shown, however this doesn’t mean he predicted them.

Regardless of whatever technique you were to use to predict the lottery numbers the percentage chance you had of predicting them all correctly would still remain the same which is approx 1 in 14 million as there are that many different combinations that can come out. However Derren’s show was crafted so well that he got many people believing he had actually predicted the numbers.

This isn’t the first stunt Derren has pulled, over the last few years he had done Russian Roulette and a show on mind control how he managed to get people to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Now both of these tricks might like his recent stunt be fixed but these two were plausible that he could actually pull them off, with Russian Roulette you never have a worse than fifty percent chance of getting it wrong and the idea that you could through the art of suggestion get someone to do something is again very plausible. However with the lottery stunt I think he has tried to push the envelope too far and it has come unbelievable.

In the human spirit there I something that wants to believe that there is someone out there that could do something amazing and we would all love to be able to predict the lottery which is where Derren gets his fan base. I think if Derren tries too many of these stunts, too often I think he will lose any credibility he has. In my opinion Derren is a great TV presenter an a great illusionist but as for having the powers he proclaims I’m not too sure, I will however give him one thing he is great at getting people talking and if this show has caused people to try their hand at maths and problem solving to try and prove or disprove his trick it will have done something good.

I think it is a wise lesson for young people to learn from Derren Brown that if you push things too far that you may become unstuck so always be sure to think about what you are going to do and your next move before you do it because as soon as you lose your credibility then you’ve got problems.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Noel's HQ

Now one of the main vocal points behind Talented Young People is our desire to see a better world for our youngsters to live in and to create a world of more fulfilled young people who have dreams and ambitions that they are working hard to fulfill. So Noel's HQ really struck a chord with us as the majority of the programme was highlighting how everybody can make their own positive difference to the world whilst highlighting people that already were which is what we are all about.

In a year in which we have seen a huge rise in the reports of teenage crime in newspapers and in a year which has seen the launch of the Talented Young People – Youth Manifesto, we believe there has never been a more important time than today to make the big and small changes the world needs.

We need more celebrities and people in power using their positions to help make this a more positive world to live in and it is great to see Noel Edmonds devoting his time to the cause. His TV show showed you how much difference you could make in ninety minutes. After the show had finished he had managed to sign up thousands of viewers to become organ donors as well as getting people to email in with offers of support in goods, services and time for people that were trying to change the world.

We need to fight on all fronts for this world whether it be TV, Radio, Internet or Press. We need to fight to reach people wherever they may be if we are going to change the world and make it a positive place for young people to live in.

I hope there are more programmes like this on TV but more importantly I hope shows like this encourage people to actually do something as it is the people on the ground who can make the real and big changes.


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Reality TV

During my weekly media consuming I came across a new programme on a channel called “Fiver.” The programme was called “Living Lohan” which is a fly on the wall docu-soap / reality programme on Lindsay Lohan’s younger sister Ali. The programme follows Ali through her home life as she tries to make a career in the music business and this programme got me thinking for this week’s blog.

This is not the first programme of its kind and there have been many like it since the popularity of “The Osbournes” series. However when these shows were first used merely as entertainment c-list celebrities, washed up celebrities and relatives of celebrities are now appearing in their own reality programmes to promote an album or to try and get a career in an entertainment field. Music stars or wannabe music stars think instead of having to travel the country to promote themselves or an album they can just get a camera crew to follow their home life and it can be broadcast to the masses with little effort on their behalf.

The problem now comes that in order for a reality show to be successful and get a deal on a major network it has to be controversial and entertaining. This means that situations have to be created and aspects of their life manipulated in order to keep their audience happy which means they can start to lose control of their image and messages they are sending out in the hunt for TV ratings. This is where the lines of fiction and reality become blurred and where people who appear on these shows are left acting like they do when the cameras rolling when they aren’t. The pressure of a TV series which follows you around everyday has taken its toll on many families like the Hulk Hogan family from “Hogan Knows Best” I believe that if it wasn’t for their reality series then some of the problems and issues in their current lives could have been avoided.

I think these type of programmes are declining in popularity but because they are so cheap and easy to make there will be lots more to come especially on the random channels on Sky that seem to import anything from the US. I think viewers are now savvy to the ways in which these programmes are edited and filmed to make the show controversial and not a reflection of everyday life.

Now in balance there have been some fly on the wall programmes I have enjoyed which have followed by sporting teams, dance schools and other assorted groups. I just don’t enjoy programmes which over sensationalised and that are about celebrities or creating celebrities


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

I'd Do Anything!

I’d Do Anything is a line normally used by people who want to get something or achieve something but I am not talking about that in this weeks blog. Of course I am referring to it as the line from Oliver and the title of the new BBC Saturday night talent search programme which if you live in the UK you will have probably heard something about or seen some of the shows.

The series is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s third attempt to find a star of his latest musical production after two successful runs finding talent for The Sound of Music and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. This time he is looking for people to fill the two roles of Oliver and Nancy in Oliver The Musical. This series is different to previous years as they are looking to fill two roles instead of one but the big twist this year is that the competition for the first time has been opened up to children in order to fill the role of Oliver.

Last year X-Factor lowered their minimum age to 14 to audition and now with this series it raises the question of should young children be allowed to participate in TV talent programmes? I know this isn’t the first time children have been allowed on talent shows as many years ago it was common place on shows like New Faces and Opportunity Knocks as well as the American Star Search.

Talent shows use to have much higher viewing ratings back in the early days of this programme genre but many of these episodes featuring young people have been forgotten, lost or not easily accessible. This isn’t the case any more as although these type of shows are viewed by less people they can now be posted on sites like YouTube for people to watch, comment on and save for years to come. Add to this the celebrity / paparazzi culture we live in with thousands of news reports happening around the globe on just one episode of a TV show adds to the crazy amount of pressure put on the young people featuring in these programmes.

The bosses in charge of I’d Do Anything have made the step to not have the young aspiring Oliver’s up for a weekly public vote and for their fate to rest solely with the judges. Now I’m all for young people being given the chance to display their talents and get recognition for their achievements but this shouldn’t be done in a situation which puts young people at the risk of happenings that hinder their progress or development towards their full potential.

On the flip side I do believe that young people need to be challenged and learn how to deal with pressurised situations, I am not in favour of a world where there is no competition. So in my personal opinion I don’t think there is a one size fits all answer to the question of whether young people should be allowed on TV talent shows. I think decisions on whether young people or a young person should be allowed to go on a TV talent done on a case by case basis with the young persons needs put first and not the needs of a TV show that needs to get ratings.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Do you agree with young people being scrutinised by judges and the public in TV talent contests? Should there be a minimum age limit? Let us know you thoughts by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=404

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Big Brother Celebrity Hijack

Last Thursday the latest series of Big Brother kicked off but with a twist this time instead of the housemate being celebrities they are a group of talented young people who could go on to be celebrities. Some of the housemates include a MoBo nominated singer, the Chairman of the Scottish Youth Parliament and one of the top young fashion designers in the world who have had their work showcased at New York Fashion week. You may remember we broke the news on this series many months ago on the blog when the production company were looking for housemates but now I am going to talk about how the series is going.

The first we need to ask ourselves is would this series be going ahead in this format this year if it wasn’t for last year’s race row? And if it wasn’t for last years race row would this series still be on Channel 4 and not E4? All the questions aside no young person with talent can’t afford to look a gift horse in the mouth and need to seize on opportunities when they arrive, so even though it’s only on E4 I’m so glad this series is happening.

Now down to the format of the new show. Instead of like previous series of Celebrity Big Brother when the celebrities were housemates this year they are not in the house and unlike previous series of the regular version Big Brother is no longer in control. The Celebrities are now in control of the house playing the role of Big Brother. Celebrities take it in turn each day to set tasks for the housemates and to listen to their problems.

Now to get the viewing ratings they have to use celebrities which has shown by the drop in viewing ratings from last years Celeb Big Brother by not having celebrities in the house itself. Saying this though for my personal tastes they pay too much attention to the celebrities well at least they did in the first night instead of putting the focus on the housemates but again I understand why they do this. I would have much preferred for them to have put some of the celebrities in to the house as I think this would have been an interesting learning experience for the housemates.

Going in to the show you knew that it was a reality show and that was going to be a fundamental part of the show so the producers were going to want to create conflict and interesting situations to keep the general public gripped. I am however loving the conversations in the house that centre around their talents and how they got to where they are today with them all seeming interested in each others achievements and learning from them. They really seem to be inspiring each other which I think is going to be a positive effect of the show.

I cannot however recommend the show to our younger viewers as there are some things on the show which aren’t suitable to the young audience. The one thing that the young housemates need to remember is that they have all worked hard to get their talent to the stage it is now so it is important they don’t let any of their actions on the show takeaway from what they have already achieved or to hinder their future development as sometimes what has taken years to build up can be taken down in a matter of seconds. On the other hand if the housemates are able to communicate positive messages about themselves to the audience at home their time spent on the show may help accelerate their path towards their dream.

I think it’s great that these young faces will now be known on a larger scale and on a scale they deserve but I just hope this programme doesn’t harm any of them in their pursuit of their dream. The longer the young housemates stay on the show and the more pressure they are put under I hope they don’t act in a way in the heat of the moment that may put them in a bad light.

What do you think of Big Brother? Are you enjoying the new series? Please let us know by getting involved on our topic of the week in the forum by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=307

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack

Over the last 10 years our TV screens have been bombarded by reality TV shows and TV Talent contests. The names of the programmes have changed and the situations the contestants on these shows have changed over the years but the formula has never changed.

Times are changing though as now the guys behind the TV series ‘Big Brother’ have come up with a new concept titled ‘Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack’. The show is due to air in early 2008 instead of the usual yearly celebrity Big Brother series.

This time round they are asking not for the most outrageous young people like they usually have in the regular Big Brother series but instead they are asking for young people with talents and young people with inspiring stories to come on the show.

What the show will entail is still under wraps but this is one of the biggest opportunities given by a reality TV series for young people with talent to get some major prime time TV coverage. I take my hat off to the guys behind this programme as this is just what we need. If you read my blog I wrote about Big Brother on the first week of the last series you will see this is exactly what I was calling for.

People in the past have played around with the Reality / TV Talent show idea in the past like Fame Academy on the BBC but that was first and primarily a talent show with the reality side of it just being a side point. It is completely fresh for a TV programme to focus on the reality side first with a talent element involved. As Endemol have proved with Big Brother that you can get some get incredible ratings and gain national interest through reality TV and if they can use that expose talent to the nation then it should make for a brilliant programme. At the end of the day regardless of the format it is about getting the most people possible tune in on the TV to watch these talented young hopefuls as it is only by getting a lot of people watching that they will have a chance to launch their careers.

It’s going to be brilliant to see a reality TV show which isn’t about people who want to be celebrities and famous just because they were on Big Brother but instead talented people who want to use the Big brother experience to showcase their talents to the world.

If you are aged between 18 and 21 and want to apply go to:

http://www.channel4.com/bbhijack

If you want to talk about this show or Talent / Reality TV join in our topic of the week on our forums by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=215

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

High School Musical 2

This Friday (21/9) sees the long awaited UK Premiere of Disney movie High School Musical 2. The film is the follow up to the highly successful High Musical which hit our screens in 2006. The film premiered in America last month but this is going to be the first time people in the UK will be able to watch it as it screened on the Disney Channel.

This new movie franchise has been a runaway success for Disney who originally were just making this film as part of their annual average of ten movies for TV a year they make. Because of this Disney didn’t put a huge promotional budget aside it for to begin with but after it’s first airing a buzz started to generate as by word of mouth and viewer demand it soon become the hottest young peoples film of the year. It was that successful that it was the first time I had ever seen a DVD and soundtrack from a TV movie in the top ten of their respective charts at the same time.

You ask any person below the age of 16 in the UK or America and they have heard of High School Musical with ten’s of millions of youngsters owning the DVD, CD or watching it on TV. It has become a global phenomenon to the point that for the release of the second film they were able to do big movie premiere style events and global publicity tours to promote it, something unheard of for a made for TV movie.

In a time where society, family and young people seem to be going off the rails and a time where I personally question a lot of media content and it’s suitability for young people it is so great to see wholesome family entertainment with good messages and values being seen by so many people.

When I go and work with young people I hear many young people singing along to the High School Musical soundtrack and many people pretending to be either Troy (Zac Efron) or Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) the two main leads in the film. For a film to encourage young people to sing, to act and to come out of their shells I think is an amazing thing which not many films have been able to achieve.

I am yet to see the second film so I can’t say if it is going to be as inspiring and entertaining for young people but I’m sure if it stays true to the High School Musical fan base and to the messages put across in the first film.

This Friday it’s going to be time to learn the lyrics and dance moves to a whole new group of songs after you have now probably worn out your CD for the first movie soundtrack. All I can say is that I hope Disney continue to produce films like this and I want to be the first in line to praise them for what they have created with this franchise.

We here at Talented Young People want to know what you think about the High School Musical films for our topic of the week. So why not go and post your thoughts on what the sequel is going to be like and then log on after it airs to share your views on what it was actually like.

To cast your views go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=224#224

Before I go this week I need to remind you to vote in the Talented Young People Awards for September. The Talented Young People Awards have been set up to recognise incredible young talent and the five names you have to choose between this month are:

Andy Murray - British Tennis star

Keira Knightley - British Actress

Newton Faulkner - British Singer / Songwriter

Theo Walcott - Arsenal and England Football Player

Amy Macdonald - British Singer / Songwriter

To cast your vote go to: http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

Fame Junkies

Recently I was sat at my local train station and I saw a billboard advert for a book by Ben Elton titled ‘Chart Throb’. The book I believe is a comical / satirical look at reality TV shows like Pop Idol and X-Factor with a fictionalised story based on the people who enter, are involved in or watch these programmes. I am yet to read a copy but after doing some research I have found out that this book has been out for some time but has recently been released in to paperback.

I may one day pick up a copy as it sounds like an interesting book but it wasn’t the story that got me interested in this billboard it was the tag line at the bottom of the billboard which caught my eye which read ‘Fame Junkies’. This got me thinking and the more I thought about it the more I agreed with it. We are now living in a society where it seems that everyone is a fame junkie and wants their five minutes of fame.

People now no longer care about being talented or being good at something they just care about being famous. Programmes like X-Factor, Pop Idol etc give these people the chance to be on TV as it seems that the worse you are at singing the more chance you have of actually getting on TV and in to millions of home across the country.

This attitude and culture over the last few years has now crossed over to the Internet as the internet continues to grow. People can now make videos & MySpace profiles and have millions of people viewing their pages. Unfortunately it’s not always the talented people showing their talents that get millions of views normally the ones that get viewed are the ones that depict people doing things which require no talent.

I’m all for people using websites like Youtube and MySpace to showcase their talents and actively promote it as it is a great way of getting your work to the masses but I just hate it when people who are ‘Fame Junkies’ get more exposure than people with real talents.

This world needs an attitude and a culture change we need to stop being a world of ‘Fame Junkies’ and be a world of ‘Talent Junkies’ who are always striving to be more talented and wanting to show off their talents. As it is only real talent that can guarantee you long-term fame if this is something you chase.

I think this very apt and needs to be said in the wake of the Big Brother final as now these ‘Fame Junkies’ who starred in inverted commas on this show now try and cash in on their fame but I can tell you now that they will be lucky if we remember their names in six months let alone a year.

The only way we are going to change the world and become a better, stronger youth generation is by all taking an active role in becoming ‘Talent Junkies’ as if you control your talent you control your life and the opportunities available to you. If you are a ‘Fame Junkie’ you can’t guarantee that you will find fame as you are relying on other people to give you an opportunity and your fame is in the hands of the public but if you are a ‘Talent Junkie’ you can control your future. We need to start getting addicted to talent and not fame, we need to have the desire to be more talented not more famous.

Let us know your thoughts on this matter by getting involved in our topic of the week on the forum:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=165

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/