World of Chig   

2.10.02

Hear'say and stuff


And so another act from our list of #1s calls it a day, following the similar, but little-reported announcement a fortnight ago from B*witched. (Hands up if you thought they split up long ago.) But have Hear'say made it to our top 50 with either of their chart-toppers? Not saying. Sometimes though, I absolutely despair at the quality of journalism which is unleashed on a vulnerable public. On the day of the Mercury Music Prize, my friend Bristolcream pointed out dotmusic's story about the betting on the prize. They had made a complete dog's dinner of it. They said odds were shortening when they were actually lengthening, and made out that small changes in the odds were hugely significant. It was clear that whoever wrote it just didn't understand betting. And now look! They're at it again today in their story about who the bookies think will manage a solo career after Hear'say's split yesterday.

"Myleene is odds on favourite at 2-1", claims dotmusic. No she's not. If she was odds on, she'd be 1-2. Then they say that Coral has "Suzanne Shaw trailing at 6-1", implying that she's coming in last. Well no, because she's actually second in the betting, with the boys as follows; "Noel Sullivan is at 10-1 to score a top ten hit by the end of 2003, Danny Foster at 12-1 and latecomer Johnny Shentall at 14-1."

Tsk. I feel an e-mail coming on.....

And while we're on the subject, I feel a bit sorry for Johnny. (A bit, not a lot.) All that effort learning all the Hear'say songs and all the dance routines, and what does he get out of it? One #6 single. This coming after his previous group Boom! had a #11 hit with Falling, but were then dropped by their record company with no second single. He must be the unluckiest man in pop, leaving two groups in 18 months (but then he does have the recompense of going out with Lisa ex-Steps). No sympathy for Hear'say though. You reap what you sow, and they were doomed from the moment they pulled the wool over their fans' eyes by making them waste time and effort auditioning for Kym's place, when they had Johnny lined up all along. If their management didn't realise that those people auditioning and following the auditions are the very same core fans they needed to buy the records, then they were very stupid indeed. In addition to that, the nature of these constant TV audition shows means we've all moved on, and Hear'say seem like very old news now. Watch out Will and Gareth when the two Popstars rival bands are launched! Especially if common sense prevails and hunky Jacob Thompson ends up in the boyband. He's already on the cover of TWO magazines this week, including OK! A star is born already.

One thing I'm gutted about with the Hear'say split though: I've never yet heard them explain the reason for that misplaced apostrophe! Their legacy is that millions of schoolkids now think there really ARE words with apostrophes in the middle for no reason. It's a crying shame, but never mind - we have Mad'house to carry on the daft tradition.

Only two days to Fame Academy.....can't wait! And we get to vote the 12th candidate IN on Friday night.

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