The Voice Of Ireland - Holy Crap, RTE1 Didn't Screw Up Alert

It's been three episodes, so I know I've given it a fair chance and it pleases me to admit that for once, RTE1 have produced a Sunday evening entertainment/reality TV series that hasn't made want to write an angry letter to Montrose/head for the sick bucket.

I was delighted when I heard that The All Ireland Talent Show was getting the boot in favour of The Voice Of Ireland. It might have been a nice little ratings earner for RTE1 but it was the type of show that seemed horrendously behind the times and with 60% of that judging panel just being personalities, rather than experts, I was delighted to see the back of it. But at the same time, I didn't know if the replacement they had lined up would be any better.

Thankfully, The Voice Of Ireland has been good viewing in the three episodes that have aired so far. Presenters like Kathryn Thomas and Eoghan McDermott have been entertaining without being cringe worthy and the coaches in question - Niall 'Bressie' Breslin, Sharon Corr, Kian Egan and Brian Kennedy have actually been fun to watch as coaches, probably because they actually know what they're talking about, which always helps with these sort of shows.

I think the bigger question remains to be asked - why did it take RTE1 this long to actually air something this enjoyable? Have they only started doing effective market research because a lot of the stuff that they've been commissioning over the last few years has been horrible to watch but The Voice Of Ireland has been their best effort in a while (apart from Raw and Love/Hate, naturally) and it's been a nice success for them.

I'm just wondering though when the BBC version kicks off in March and turns out to be a success, will that be a nail in The X Factor's coffin? Any thoughts?

The Voice Of Ireland airs Sundays at 6.30pm on RTE1.

The Voice - Ireland/UK Update

Well, it won't be until 2012 until we can whether or not The Voice will be a success for both Irish and UK viewers as it has been in the US but at least both of them have announced at least one out of the four respective judges for their versions.

The first judge announced for the UK version turns out to be Jessie J, which was interesting considering that we recently saw her helping Tulisa pick her four groups for The X Factor at judges houses last week. I like Jessie J and let's face it, it's been a great week for her - first with the announcement of this gig and then her four MOBO wins as well. This is a good start. Hope the remaining three are just as good.

It's also something of a relief that Ireland seem to be taking this seriously as well. Maybe Sharon Corr isn't everyone's flavour of the month but at least she has experience/reasonable success within the Irish music industry and if the other three judges are also people who know what they're talking about, maybe our version won't be a giant farce like The All Ireland Talent Show.

The Cowell Factor

I was tempted to resist not posting this but er, it got me thinking the same thing a lot of other people are thinking.
Cheryl Cole being sacked from the US version of The X Factor - was it shocking? No, it actually wasn't. If anything, how could anyone not see it coming? The omens were certainly there. Cole lacked the experience and familiarity with US audiences and her accent was one of many barriers that she had going against her. The others aside from the lack of experience and familiarity are the simple fact that hyperbole aside, Cheryl just isn't that interesting a judge and FOX seemed to have made it pretty clear that they didn't want her in the first place. I know there are certain showbiz acolytes out there acting like Cole's exit is a travesty but it's really not. I think she wouldn't have gone down well with the US audiences at all and in their own messed up way, FOX might have done her a favour.

Still, though it's another in a series of cock ups for Simon Cowell. Now only is his new baby not generating as much positive buzz as he'd hoped but the show he left - American Idol has actually managed to do even better without him. The recent finale clocked in around 29 million viewers and the ratings are up 20% from last season. Looks like not having Simon Cowell pulling the strings is the midas touch for a reality singing show nowadays.

Even NBC's The Voice (set to be replicated by the BBC soon) has been doing well and generating much more buzz than the US X Factor. Then again, given it's format, maybe this show is the way forward with singing competitions and The X Factor itself is becoming outdated. I know I'd rather look at Adam Levine than Cowell's ugly mug every week on TV if I lived in America. Cheryl's axing aside, I have a feeling that the US X Factor is not going to be the spectacular hit that both Cowell and FOX are hoping for.