Covers Show Is A Waste Of Talent
by David Smyth
05/10/02
If Gareth Gates is the new Elvis Presley, I'm the new Salman Rushdie. Yet his
record company continues to perpetuate this laughable illusion, and last night,
on the first night of the Pop Idol winners' UK tour, pour Gareth wa poured into
a familiar white sequinned jumpsuit as he attempted Suspicious Minds in front
of a Jailhouse Rock-style backdrop of cages.
Will Young, on the other hand, the official winner of the TV talent show, might
just give Robbie Williams a run for his £80 million, given some decent songs.
Gates is clearly the choice of the younger girls, as anyone with ears could
hear last night, and is also blatantly the dimpled pet of high-trousered music
industry fiend Simon Cowell. But once Cowell loses interest in Young, and
someone clever recognises his obvious charisma and styles him for a more mature
audience, we might have that rare thing on our hands - a pop singer with
longevity.
Even if Young ends up doing a Hear'Say, he can still remain in the public eye
as a newsreader. His between-song banter was ever so polite and articulate,
whereas much of Gareth's was pre-recorded. As a means of getting around his much-publicised
stammer, this instead drew more attention to his problem.
Like the format of the TV show, the sets of both Gates and then Young were
loaded with cover versions. Gates sang Michael Jackson, the Beatles and his
number one Unchained Melody. Young sang Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder and Light
My Fire, his number one. When he introduced a song called Don't Let Me Down, it
was almost a relief that it wasn't a Beatles track.
They closed with their duet and this week's number one, The Long and Winding
Road. If they don't move on from covers soon, one or both of them will find
that their road to stardom is much shorter than that.