Product Description

"Chart Throb" is the ultimate pop quest. Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner. And that's Colin Simms, the genius behind the show. Colin always wins because Colin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The 'real' is about to be put back into 'reality' television and Colin and his fellow judges (the nation's favourite mum and the other bloke) are about to become ex-factors themselves. Ben Elton, author of "Popcorn and Dead Famous" returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows. "Chart Throb" is about one winner and a whole bunch of losers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34869 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From the Inside Flap
Chart Throb.The ultimate pop quest.

Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner.
And that’s Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show.

Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted ‘search’ for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The ‘real’ is about to be put back into ‘reality’ television and Calvin and his fellow judges (the nation’s favourite mum and the other bloke) are about to become ex-factors themselves.

Ben Elton, author of Popcorn and Dead Famous returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows.

Chart Throb. One winner. A whole bunch of losers.

From the Back Cover
Crazed, no talent fame junkies…And that’s just the judges.

Chart Throb.The ultimate pop quest. Ninety-five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner. And that’s Calvin Simms, the genius behind the show.

Calvin always wins because Calvin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits in judgement upon the Mingers, Clingers and Blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted ‘search’ for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The ‘real’ is about to be put back into ‘reality’ television and Calvin and his fellow judges are about to become ex-factors themselves.

Ben Elton, author of Popcorn and Dead Famous, returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows.

Chart Throb. One winner. A whole bunch of losers.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

About the Author
BEN ELTON's career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. In addition to his hugely influential work as a stand-up comic, he is the writer of such TV hits as The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line. Most recently he has written the BBC series Blessed on the subject of young parenthood. Elton has written three musicals, The Beautiful Game, We Will Rock You and Tonight's the Night and three West End plays. His internationally bestselling novels include The First Casualty (out in Black Swan paperback in April 2006) Popcorn, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. He wrote and directed the successful film Maybe Baby based on his novel Inconceivable starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson.

Customer Reviews

Cutting and Very Clever
Chart Throb is a savage commentary on the contrived world of talent shows like the X-Factor with a wonderful satirical view of the overblown egos of the Judges. At times the observations and pathos of the contestants, and how they are manipulated, make you cringe as much as the real thing. Having a famous member of the Royal Family as a contestant did seem to be a surreal step too far, until I saw Simon Cowell talking about his efforts to involve President Obama in American Idol!!

Ok, but not great.
No-one would disagree that Ben Elton is a masterful observer of contemporary society. Once again here, he taps into the frustration with the X factor/Pop idol culture that seems to have dominated our "empty lives" in the last few years.

His observations are shrewd, funny and probably altogether true. You'll certainly never take another episode of these dire programmes seriously!!

The problem is that, once the jokes have been told, there is very little else here and the book drags on and on. The plot is flimsy, unfulfilling and ultimately fairly silly (without being clever) and you warm to none of the characters leaving you caring nothing about what happens to any of them.

Sometimes I think that the Ben Elton book machine latches onto the subject du jour much as a stand up comic plan his latest routine. Unfortunately, the book has to be readable and gripping as well and here, with Chart Throb, Mr Elton fails.

Scathing
Chart Throb is Ben Elton in full satire mode. This time, the likes of reality TV shows like Pop Idol, The X Factor and The Osbournes deservedly come under fire. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne are the stars of the show, although they're given new names and Mrs. Osbourne has been made a transsexual for the benefits of the story. It's stated unambiguously - and rather clumsily - early in the story that the book's characters have nothing to do with their real life counterparts, but Mr. Elton is fooling nobody. Calvin 'Cowell' Simms is a cynical media genius, Rodney 'Walsh' Root is a desperately status-sensitive failure, and Beryl 'Osbourne' Blenheim is an equally cynical fraud who plays the nuturing mother only when the cameras are rolling on her and/or her family.

It's hard to say where Chart Throb exposes the truth about exploitative shows like The X Factor and where the book's eponymous TV program is a far more exaggerated, cruelly cynical form of the shows it righteously pardoies. Mr. Elton is more privy to life behind the cameras than you or I; a short note at the end of the book letting us know from where he drew his inspirations might have made even more interesting reading.

As some of the other reviewers have pointed Mr. Elton does overplay certain jokes in Chart Throb. The vacuous, "keep dreaming the dream, babes" reality TV soundbites are funny the first few times they are repeated to show them in their full, trite witlessness. However, these same catchphrases are used whenever a camera is turned onto any one of the Chart Throb culprits/victims, which is to say almost constantly. The satire becomes as overused as the subject matter.

In spite of this book's flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ben Elton's observations of human nature at its most vulnerable, venal, exploitative, ambitious, desperate and vengeful are never so good as when they're in print and it's this hallmark that gives Chart Throb its strength. I kept my eye out for Mr. Elton's other trademark - the (often multiple) twist at the end of the tale. However, even forwarned, I wouldn't have seen the book's conclusion coming in a month of Sundays. Although in my defence, it was a little far-fetched.

So, buy the book? Go on, you might as well. At the time of writing, my local newsagents is running a two-for-one on paperback bestsellers, so I got this for a relative bargain. I'd say I'd got more than my money's worth.