RTƒÕs talent show is more about votes than talent

There is something rather sad and almost demeaning about The All-Ireland Talent Show and, indeed, any such show which requires the participants to grovel to the public for support while RTÉ just sit back in the knowledge that while all of this is going on, they are on a ratings winner.

It goes without saying that the families of every participant are out night, noon and morning in an effort to win support for their particular act which is proving a financial windfall for every mobile phone network that exists as well as the suppliers of the very expensive landline number that the public have to call to show their support.

On Sunday night, it was the first of the semi-finals and not being a huge fan of this series I dipped in and out from a curiosity point of view. Most of the acts that I saw were poor to say the least, even if some of them were talked up by the judges.

But that is only minor in the bigger scale of things. Obviously this programme is something of a hit as far as viewers are concerned (I found it torture) and it involves a major whittling down of acts in advance of the televised stage of the competition.

And then when it comes to the small screen, it is audience participation time as they are encouraged, coaxed, charmed or blackmailed into voting for a particular act and this ultimately decides who wins the fifty grand that is on offer for the successful performance.

For example, there were two cousins from Kerry – one played the fiddle and the other the guitar – but they were so incompatible that it was frightening. The judges tried to be kind to them but they were no better than a duo who were asked to perform in a pub and had never played together before.

However, it was not inconceivable that, with the backing that they could generate, they could go on to win the competition. That is how stupid this show is. It has absolutely nothing got to do with talent, it is a numbers game.

And then there are the judges. Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh has more facial expressions than Fianna Fáil had failed policies while Amanda Brunker is probably wondering why she was ever chosen to be on this diabolical excuse for a talent competition.

Dana just speaks but says nothing – she should be in Labour – while Daithí Ó Sé and John Creedon give out an air of triumphalism which is meaningless in view of the fact that they have no hand, act or part in the eventual outcome.

But yet those who are attached to the acts still involved in the competition are out there spending fortunes in trying to promote them at the encouragement of RTÉ or whoever makes the programme.And why did Gráinne Seoige feel the need to borrow a dress from Corrie’s Bet Lynch?

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.