Chart Throb by Ben Elton

"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.

It was okay. I appreciated it more when I caught a bit of American Idols on tv last night. It wasn't nearly as good as I remember High Society being.

Lopz reviewed this book on 16 October 2007:
This book is absolutely brilliant. Ben Elton is a master of satire and deconstructing the often ridiculous elements of pop culture today. He takes us through a 'behind the scenes' look at Chart Throb, the fictional "bigger, better" version of Britain's hottest talent show, The X Factor, produced in real life by Simon Cowell. Calvin Simms is the Simon Cowell figure, and the other two judges mirror perfectly the characters of Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne. Elton uses the our current obsession with reality TV to smash all perceptions of a talent show that exists to make people's dreams come true. Instead, he exposes the money and power hungry moguls behind shows like X Factor and American Idol, and the desperation and delusion of the majority of contestants. His take on this booming industry is cynical, hysterical and so spot on you find yourself gasping frequently at the obvious truths what reality TV is really about.

Of course, whether Elton's exposes are indeed just a product of a clever imagination or they have more than just a resemblance to reality is for the reader to decide. The book is a work of fiction, but you can't help but feel it is uncomfortably close to the truth. Personally I believe it is a little of both. I enjoyed every second of this book, but there is a downside: I will never again look at TV shows like this in the same way, and my housemates have started to yell at me when my newfound cynicism rears its head during X Factor. ;-)

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot