Picture from Joe Meek Page
Once again I am on the judging panel of the Notts Factor competition and as a change from last year the elimination based on emailed submissions is being dealt with by the organiser Tony Bates and myself. With this in mind I spent this evening listening to a load of tracks that Tony had forwarded to me. It is always a pleasure to listen to something for the first time and the quality is pretty strong this year especially compared to last year's offerings. Of course I was aware of some of the people and bands that I was listening to so it was a little difficult because I didn't want to just put people through simply because I knew them or had worked with them before. Another issue was that a couple of them had been in last year's final and it didn't seem right to have them back again when other people deserve a chance, I never got my head around Future Sound of Nottingham's policy when it came to accepting entrants but this competition is a proper one where the winner is decided on the night so we didn't want to be anything like them.
One particular entry stood out for me for all the wrong reasons, an entry that Tony had sent along as a joke. Someone who had overdone it with the self-belief tablets (I am aware that I am in danger of throwing stones in a glass house but at least I know my limitations) and sent something in that I was tempted to put through purely for comedy reasons. Every television talent show has a joke act, Wagner and Jedward are the names you remember from X-Factor and this time around although I'm not watching I am aware thanks to social media of Honey G being kept in at the expense of proper singers. I won't name him, mainly because I have forgotten his name, in much the same way as my admiration for a delusional pub DJ the other night, I couldn't help feel an admiration for his belief in himself. I would love to a festival or a night based on acts who think they are brilliant but to the audience are just terrible. The man who submitted this monstrosity must have thought deep down that he was good enough to enter a competition, and must have been unaware of Nottingham having a music scene to compete against. He was a holiday camp style cabaret entertainer who sang 'My Way' very badly and even looked like a Phoenix Nights character. With a heavy heart I had to reject him but I would have loved to have seen him win, I'll recommend him for Future Sound of Nottingham.
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