For anyone who felt withdrawal symptoms kicking in following the final episode of the weirdly addictive Masked Singer (on which: the identity of winner Panda was a nice surprise after the outstanding and widely-liked runner-up Mushroom’s unveiling), Starstruck looked like being the antidote.
But it wasn’t. All the ingredients for Saturday night talent contest gold were here, including star judges, members of the public performing, a knockout format and a bunch of karaoke classics being sung by talented singers. Except this time, the extra format twist being thrown into the mix was a spin on old family favourite Stars In Their Eyes, where regular folk with capable voices would dress up as a star to sing their song.
As with the old show, it wasn’t meant to be about the costume, only the voice. But also, as with Stars In Their Eyes, you couldn’t think about anything but the costumes from the moment these ‘magical’ transformations were complete. The air of second-rateness came through in them, especially the squad of fancy dress Lady Gagas.
With teams of three tribute singers harmonising on one song, there’s a spurious contest format; that one of the four teams competing is picked as the best, and one of its members is selected as the week’s winner.
Forced format
This new-style show looks forced and outdated. The format also appears broken from the start, with the odd selection process meaning the best performer (the white-suited Marvin Gaye, for my money) lost out because the pencil-moustached Freddy Mercurys were a better team. Although the look of joy on Freddy’s son’s face was a tug at the heartstrings, at least.
Maybe the fact I’m bothered at all means I’ve already bought into the contestants’ ‘journeys’, but it all felt downhill after host Olly Murs and a judging panel including Sheridan Smith and Jason Manford had delivered their opening medley.
True talent
On the subject of talented singers, Imagine… Labi Siffre: This is My Song (BBC One) was the kind of show you stumble across and can’t turn off, with the genteel Londoner with the transatlantic singing tone recounting life as a black gay man born in the 1940s, and a career which spans the anti-apartheid crooning of Something Inside So Strong to rediscovery in the samples of a new hip-hop generation. He seems a survivor, and his singing voice still stops the viewer in their tracks.
Devil’s advocate
Finally, there’s just time to bring back some bad memories for supporters of Dundee FC with The Devil’s Advocate: The Mostly True Story of Giovanni Di Stefano (Sky), in which the story of their former director, sometime counsel to Saddam Hussein and Harold Shipman, and convicted fraudster Di Stefano is told in compelling docudrama format. It’s a most unlikely thriller.
