30 October 2008
I was still living abroad in 2008. In my absence the people of Ireland put to the top of the Irish charts a British single from a British TV show celebrating the British military for the British poppy-wearing remembrance day. Somebody talk me through the collective national thought process behind that, if you don’t mind.
My patriotic bemusement meant another issue almost slipped under my radar. Simon Cowell here finds a way to cash in further on The X Factor: not only the winner’s single but now also a finalists’ group single. Piggybacking on the British public’s effusive response to its military services and Remembrance Sunday is par for Simon’s cynical course. Mariah’s original is maudlin anyway, but the opening slo-mo schmaltz of the video (below) gives fair warning of the additional emotional manipulation slathered upon it by this iteration – plus the obligatory key change! I wouldn’t put the blame on any of these young singers, which include Dungiven teen Eoghan Quigg; for all my equanimity about the winners and my enthusiasm for breakout stars like Leona Lewis, this exploitative X Factor side-hustle leaves me with a sour aftertaste.
A British army tribute at number one in Ireland, though: should we congratulate Simon on his chutzpah—his military coup—or instead take a long, quizzical look at ourselves?
