Lesson from Pop Idol

Spanish state television should be congratulating themselves on the success of their equivalent of Pop Idol. The concert on Tuesday night at Son Moix in Palma was a sell out. The finalists of the TV show came together for the round Spain tour and their response from the public was quite incredible, drawing larger crowds than the Rolling Stones or Sting. The most pleasing part of this whole TV saga is that all the finalists have given a clear message to their army of teenage fans: through hard work and dedication you can reach the top and they have also hit out against drugs and booze. Now this clean living message, we have all heard before, but the interesting and positive thing about “Operación Triunfo” is that their message is getting across and their fans are in the age group who probably need the most guidance. Unlike in Britain where the uglier sides of the Pop industry have been allowed to creep into the programme, in Spain it has been stage managed to highlight the better sides. Even though many of the finalists are probably made for life, the fact they have signed big record contracts and are earning six figure sums has not been allowed to cloud the programme. In fact, you could say, that for a British audience, it wouldn't make good TV, or so we are led to believe. But the Spanish loved it, and Operación Triunfo has done plenty to get the message across. It has also shown TV bosses that “bad news doesn't always sell a programme.” Perhaps TV stations in other European countries should take note, a clean-living pop idol could probably solve many of the problems which dog teenagers these days.