Okay, hear me out. I love the X Factor. Even though everyone talks about how it’s this awful corporate machine that is everything that’s wrong with the music industry (and they’re probably right), I just can’t get enough. The clichés and predictability of it is probably what I love the most, and whilst I can still have a heated debate about who should get kicked off and who should win, it’s most definitely not about the best singer. It’s obviously about who can entertain, which is why I was very upset when Stevie Richie left (I think he might be my hero).
But I was most upset when Only The Young were kicked off, not only because I would miss that crazy man in the audience shouting ‘ONLY THE YOUNG!’ on every results show, but because they reminded me of the bands I grew up listening to. Groups like Steps, S Club 7 and the Spice Girls were the first bands I really got into, so considering how important music is to me and my life now, I have a lot to thank them for. And it makes me sad sometimes that I can’t think of an equivalent these days, so when Only The Young were there singing ‘Monster Mash’ and a ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ from the Jungle Book, jumping round the stage, grinning like idiots and spraying silly string on Louis Walsh, it made me really happy. It reminded me of Saturday morning kid’s shows from the good old days, it was great!
Now people will probably tell me that we have boybands like One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer that the kids (and I, ahem) love, and girlbands like Little Mix and The Saturdays, but there’s something different about a mixed group that I think is pretty special. Only the Young totally fit into a gap in the industry right now, and I hope they get somewhere because they’re just so bloody happy it’s infectious.
Pop music is great. I’m so done with music snobbery and the abuse people have thrown at them when they admit they like bands like One Direction. If they make you smile, who really cares what anyone else thinks? They’re the ones missing out on all the fun… typing out their anger on social media and writing articles for NME. I know which side of the fence I would rather be on. To give you a hint, I’m in the process of persuading my housemates we are all going to see One Direction on their tour next year…
Sources
http://onedirectionmagazine.com/2013/11/page/5/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uYR_D9lNnU
http://heartsfortheherogirl.buzznet.com/user/journal/17443247/deal-overly-opinionated-music-lovers/
Edited by Amelia Bauer-Madden