SIMON COWELL'S 'X FACTOR' POLITICS, ANYONE?

My dear readers, another wonderful week is starting here in Andalucia although it rarely stops raining which translates into flooded roads and overflowing gutters! But at least that’s preferable to all that dreadful snow and ice my dear readers in the UK and the rest of Northern Europe have had to contend with these past few weeks not to mention floods and mudslides in Brazil. How is the weather behaving in North America, Australia and New Zealand?

Next I would like to thank all my dear readers and also new followers who visited or commented recently. They all write such wonderful blogs which everyone should visit! I Do visit all their great sites now! I’m thinking especially of From Donuts to Delirium , French Fancy, Rose Tea Cottage , Little Bear Studio ,Dustjacket Attic ,Information is Everything ,La Boheme ,Shopping in Suffolk ,Under Lock & Key ,The Vintage Kitten , Work of the Poet, The Adventures of Gingeyginge ,Sunbonnet Cottage . But there are sooo many more too - too many to list unfortunately!

Now, as you all know I’m hopeless with computers but Alfie, my puppy-nephew (left), is a computer geek who spends hours on end in chatrooms with his Harley Davidson pals all over the world (so long, in fact, his Mom, Sadie, is still convinced he’s downloading porn) and he’s again managed to post for me Nora’s latest article in her Breaking Views column in EURO WEEKLY NEWS about Simon Cowell’s idea for a new reality TV show, a "Political X Factor". If this happens in the UK, the odds are it will also happen in North America, Australia and elsewhere too! What are your thoughts on this kind of new Simon Cowell-type reality show in your country? Do let me know if you’d rather Simon remained in Madame Tussauds (below)!
‘EXIT FACTOR’, ANYONE?
Simon Cowell’s proposed new TV show, a "Political X Factor", as recently described on Newsnight - in which hot, political topics are voted on by members of the public in instant referendums - is the best idea I’ve heard so far this decade!


But will turning Britain into a huge reality game show really be all that different from er, reality? We already have elections to decide who’ll be starring in that great, ongoing soap opera, Westminster, and our evil, money grubbing bankers and peers are straight out of some dreadful Edwardian melodrama. And while the police think they are playacting in a Dirty Harry movie, are the media - in all their manifestations - so very unlike pantomime dames? (Oh no, they’re not!). What Simon’s giving us here is the chance to wallow in pretend referendums, in make-believe. So not much change then...


But why stop there, Simon? How about the ‘eXit Factor’? Imagine the tearjerker you could squeeze out of that. The final journey to the final room on the trolley. The relatives wailing like banshees. The artificial flowers by the window as sunlight pours in.... epitomising a brighter, better world beyond. A ‘Simon Cowell’ kind of world.

But let’s face it: much as we might dislike the idea of government by ’phone poll, it's only one step removed from government by Ipsos-Mori/ YouGov poll or tabloid headline we currently have. Might even help engage young people in British politics too, taking into account the fact that more 18-25 year olds vote for Big Brother than the General Election and watch Dr Who than Newsnight. And at least the Jedwards and Joes are easier on the eye than the Mandelsons and Millibands we currently have to put up with - until the General Election, that is...

How this all brings back such wonderful memories of a cataclysmic Colin Baker-era episode of Dr Who called ‘Vengeance’ where the leader of a planet was at the whim of public opinion to the point where his life was totally at its mercy! Oh, Gordon Brown, those truly were the Good Old Days!

But, back to reality. Would anything actually get done using Simon’s ’phone poll method? Given how the X Factor managed to spin itself out for months at a time making the simplest of decisions, I'd hazard a guess we'd have to wait, at the earliest, until after the break a year next Saturday before knowing whether capital punishment was coming back. So, Gordon, looks as if your life’s safe, if not your job ...
　
Remember you can catch each article every Thursday online! Nora would really love to know what you think about it (and later articles too) but, better still, email dear Mrs Ed at mrsed@euroweeklynews.com. And my apologies that, because of Nora’s work commitments, I’m not able to get out and visit all your great sites as often as I used to ’cos, as you know, it’s Nora who types up all these deeply profound thoughts of mine!


Well, that’s all for now, dear readers, but before you go do help yourselves to a glass of champagne:

Mwah!
XoXo LOL LOLA:)