A final humiliation.

     Sad to hear of the pulling of The Voice UK tour. This is even more of a mongrel than the X Factor road show circus, but one still has to feel sorry for the performers.
     It can't be in the best interests of a creative artist that the road to fame is by virtue of the audience engaging with the emotion of their personal sob story rather than with their voice or lyrics of one particular song.
     I guess Leanne can go back to Butlins or on to cruise liners with a few album sales under her belt. But what of those who really came through as potential recording artists through this? How much of a blow is the cancellation?
     If any aristocrat may have deserved the support of the public then it might be Bo Bruce, whose father became an unlikely folk hero in the eighties when he stood up for the victims of organised police brutality at the incident known as the Battle of the Beanfield. When he then gave evidence to protect them from further oppression via the criminal justice system he was described as a 'class traitor' by the Daily Telegraph. He successfully sued them too, though of course the guilty parties behind the original incident were never prosecuted.
     How is it that Will.i.am managed to make a recording artist of Tyler James, when the Brit School could not. I have concerns that the coaching and mentoring in an 'academic' environment may narrow the scope and range of an artist's development. It is a fact of life in any classroom that those who please the teacher get the lion's share of praise and encouragement. Not as a conscious thing necessarily, but as human nature on both sides. Another concern is that in these institutions there is there is a peer group situation, where perhaps 'Amy is a star and I'm not'.
     I wish them all well, but these two particularly.
     This evening I will be attending a gig put on by the local Vocal Arts College, something completely new to me. A chance perhaps to test out my preconceptions. I know already that there is one artist whom I know and like and another who I have been looking forward to seeing perform for some time, so I go with an open mind and in hope.