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Monday, July 10, 2006

Your Thoughts?

George Stroumboulopoulos will host the U.S. version of The One: Making a Music Star, in which 11 young musicians compete for a chance at a recording contract. Read the press release HERE. And read some of George's reaction on CBC's website HERE.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

good for you George!!! cheers!!!

Tammy

Barbara said...

My thoughts are... Now I have a reason to watch that show...
I know 'Star Academie' was a very very popular show in French Canada and had most French Canadians watching it everyday. I hope that 'The One' enjoys equal success in both Canada on CBC, and in the USA in ABC.
Bonne Chance George!

Serah said...

Interesting! I will be able to watch tv again!
Sarah

John Mutford said...

Hmmm. George gets a lot of respect, reality TV (especially musical talent search shows) do not. I wonder what will happen? Will he add a much needed element to the genre? Or will it destroy his credibility? Time will tell I guess.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I'm with you on that one, John.

Personally I think this is a mistake, both for the CBC (for falling into the commercial trap of these reality singing shows) and for George S. Sadly, I think this is a giant step backwards.

I don't think this gamble will pay off; I think that some people will end up watching this show because George is hosting it, but I think even more people (like me) will cringe and wonder what he could possibly have been thinking.

I will not be watching.

Mint Sharpie said...

And here I was starting to like George. I scold him for falling prey to the evils of not-really-reality shows. As tempting as it is to see how he handles himself, the idea of watching that garbage gives me the chills. *shudder*

Unknown said...

I'm astounded with George hosting it.
No wonder why he is in LA.

The only stigma I feel would be the American viewers with "who's George?" :P

Becky said...

Personally, I think it's not a smart move. I mean, everytime I saw commercials for "The One" I was thinking 'Thank god for The Hour as it is much better than these crap reality shows'.
Not to be to hard on George, but didn't he always say how much he disliked American Idol?
Anyway, I don't think I'm going to watch.

Allison said...

I agree with most of you guys, its like a 180 turn or something. I really can't wait to listen to The Strombo Show on Sunday night and hear George's reasoning.

Barbara said...

George explained why he is doing the show The One on Newsworld CBC News Tonight. I will try to get you the clip if I can, so you can hear it it his own words.

Alana Elliott said...

I just forced myself to watch 2 minutes of Canadian Idol, I wanted to see if I could somehow manage to watch a reality show without feeling my morality slip slowly away, but alas, it didn't work. The longer I watched, the more I wanted to rob a liquor store or maybe even praise Hitler, so I figured I should change the channel before I went completely insane and started singing Kelly Clarkson songs.

So long story short, I don't think my IQ or my eardrums could handle the beating brought on by reality tv, with or without George in it.

Who knows. Maybe the show will start and it'll actually be good and we'll all be kicking ourselves for being cynical.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

"Who knows. Maybe the show will start and it'll actually be good and we'll all be kicking ourselves for being cynical."
- that would be a best case scenario, Alana, but I can't see tha happening. Haven't these "talent" shows come to the end of their natural lifespan? Isn't this the tail end of the trend? Somebody is going against the established wisdom of buy low, sell high, methinks...

John Mutford said...

Anyone remember Jian Gomeshi's hosting of CBC's "The Great Canadian Music Dream"? That wasn't that bad.

Serah said...

Some of George's explanation is on the CBC website under entertainment. I suggest giving it a read if you missed CBC News Tonight.

Alana Elliott said...

"In a way it's not unlike MuchMusic. ... They needed a host with a specific skill set and in Canada we are producing people who have those skills."

I think I need a better explanation than that...

But thanks for the heads up "She's Crafty", it was good to get a little of his perspective.

Allison said...

does anyone have the link? i can't seem to find it...

Alana Elliott said...

Allison, I'm going to add the link to this entry, I hope you don't mind. That way it's accessible for everyone.

Allison said...

LOL. I was just doing it at the same time :) I thought you guys were talking about a video clip, not the article. Either way, good to have it up

Evelyne said...

Are you kidding? George hosting a show like Star Académie? Please, tell me it's a nightmare... like Barbara W, said Star Académie was really popular in Quebec, but I did not watch (I tried for 2 minutes but it drove me crazy, so The One is the kind of show that I'm not watching but... Being a really optimistic person, I say let's give the guy a chance (even if my first thoughts were nooo, George you're not doing that!)... but I swear that if it's as bas as Star Académie or American/Canadian Idol are I won't be watching.

Alana Elliott said...

Apparently it will be more like the Much Music VJ Search than American/Canadian idol. Think of it like American Idol meets American's Next Top Model.

Not pleasant, I know, but go with it.

All the artists/contestants will live together in a house, like ANTM, and will compete via performances on stage, like American/Canadian Idol.

Doesn't make a bit of a difference to me, I still don't have high hopes for it, but I thought I'd throw that in there.

Allison said...

this is worse than the thought of goat cheese.

i wrote a blurb, are we doing indiv posts?

Alana Elliott said...

Allison, EW GOAT CHEESE! Why did you have to bring that up? Yuck! :P

I don't know what we're doing about posts. I'm okay either way, I'll either rant about it here or on my own blog, but I will rant about it. Did you write something about it aside from what you wrote on your blog?

Brooksie, mixed feelings seems to be the general consensus here, you're not alone. I'm hoping George's reasoning has something to do with the latter of what you mentioned. Something to do in the summer for a couple months in LA. Let's cross our fingers that's what he's thinking!

Alana Elliott said...

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd definitely take any show with George in it over a Canadian Idol series...

Allison said...

the orange tan is what was so misleading! you can never trust anyone whose faces glows that much.

Anonymous said...

I was absolutely floored when I heard about this. (Sorry I couldn't send a "heads up" in advance -- although we were talking about it on the weekend, I wasn't sure if it was more than a rumour until the official announcement went out.) It will be interesting to see what happens.

Although I think the standard Reality TV format is generally unwatchable, George could totally change that. If they let him play, The One could have some great moments: "You do realize your mother can see you, right?" All they really have to do is get out of his way and let him go off-script....

And it's definitely a good thing that he's being introduced to an American audience: this is undoubtedly the next step toward The Hour being made available internationally. (The first was moving to Main Net, which is often available in the border states.) At minimum, The Hour's website will see some additional traffic.

But I don't like American Idol either. (We used to compete with them for the 8pm ET timeslot!) That said, however, I suspect that this will do more to reach new audiences than Sarah and I ever could. And, irrespective of whether we like The One or not, Season 3 of The Hour will be that much stronger for its having been made with George as the host. (Like he always says: "If you don't like the show, don't watch!")

To allay fears that George is selling out: at the end of the day, he'll still be the same person Barb met. And, since his name will be better known outside Canada, it will be that much easier to book high-profile guests. (ABC's marketing department will be pushing hard to make their attempt at Reality TV a success.)

So whether you watch The One or not, I think we'll find that The Hour is stronger for it. And how can that be wrong?

John Mutford said...

CNN's Anderson Cooper had a stint hosting "The Mole". George will survive.

Serah said...

Ah! Perspective! Thank you Jeremy. Insert sigh of relief here.

As shocking as the news was, it does seem to make sense now.
Whatever keeps "the hour" (and George)on my TV, right! Just make sure to make regular visits to Vancouver, at least until I can afford to fly out to TO. ;)Wink!

Anonymous said...

George, How could you? Really, with all the controversy about The One shifting Mansbridge. Where are your Canadian values, your respect for the institution of the CBC. Seriously, ditch that aweful reality t.v. crap and stand behind one of Canada's great personalities. I execpted more from you on this one!

Evelyne said...

Thanks Jeremy, from that perspective it's a good thing, it might attract a bigger audience to The Hour and George is going to be known in the States. But still, it doesn't seem to be the same George than the one hosting The Hour.

From what you said Alana, it's really going to be like Star Académie, but this reality show was really bad mostly because the host was stupid and bad. So maybe that George, if he stays the same, can make it a little better.

Becky said...

meh.
That sums up my feelings about the whole thing.

Toccata said...

I still cannot believe it. George doing a "reality" music show! What's up with that? Makes everything he has said in the past seem disingenuous. I have to give him points for being able to make his excuses as to why he's doing it with a straight face. I think it's a terrible career move I will not watch. I don't watch any other "reality" show, why would I bother with this one?

Toccata said...

P.S. I completely agree with anonymous.

Toccata said...

The anonymous that asked, "How could you George!" definitely not the anonymous that said, "Good for you George!!"

Barbara said...

I am with you Jeremy. A lot of good things coming out of this. I look forward to it all.

Becky said...

I'm very muchly so with you on this on, Toccata. It just makes him look like a giant hypocrite.

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