Papers ponder TV show's aftermath
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8076447.stm Version 0 of 1. Britain's Got Talent drew the biggest TV audience for years, and takes up swathes of the morning papers. The Sun says the show's success <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/britain_got_talent/2458328/19m-fans-cant-be-wrong-Britains-Got-Talent.html">is down to the fact it has a "big heart,"</a> allowing contestants to reveal dreams. Most attention is still on Susan Boyle, <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/82965/Raging-Susan-s-mega-strop/">with the Daily Star</a> and the Daily Express <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/104632/Susan-had-a-few-wobbles-but-she-s-a-star">concentrating on her behaviour</a> in the moments after she lost. The Sun trumpets <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/britain_got_talent/2458062/Susan-Boyle-checks-into-The-Priory-Britains-Got-Talent.html">what it says is a world exclusive that she is being</a> treated at the Priory clinic for exhaustion. Effects of fame There are questions about how healthy all the attention has been on the stars of the programme. The Times columnist Libby Purves says it was <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/libby_purves/article6401294.ece">probably for the best that Susan</a> Boyle came second, so she can live her life "in a lower wattage of spotlight." And there is plenty of praise for the winning urban dance troupe, Diversity. The Daily Mirror says members will prove a "class act" by going back to school and calls them a one-word answer to the doomsayers who knock Britain's youth. Tennis hopes There is no shortage of hyperbole when it comes to the news that Rafael Nadal crashed out of the French Open at the hands of journeyman Swede Robin Soderling. The Daily Mail says it is <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1189866/FRENCH-OPEN-Britains-Andy-Murray-storms-quarter-final-emphatic-win-Marin-Cilic.html">arguably the greatest shock of the</a> game's modern era; the Daily Telegraph calls <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/frenchopen/5417474/French-Open-2009-Rafael-Nadal-dumped-out-by-Robin-Soderling.html">it "the biggest upset in grand slam history". </a> But history is quickly swept aside as many think ahead to what Nadal's defeat might mean for Andy Murray. The Times says <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6402445.ece">he has "opened the door</a> for Murray". Flying success It is a classic now, but BBC documents obtained by the Independent suggest that <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/bbc-bosses-almost-lost-faith-in-disgusting-monty-python-1693829.html">the corporation hated the first series of</a> Monty Python's Flying Circus. Management memos call its jokes "appalling, disgusting and cruel". The controller of BBC1 said the show had "gone over the edge of what's acceptable" but improving ratings and public response saved it. Perhaps broadcaster Desmond Wilcox helped too, when he raised the question of "what's wrong with cruel humour?" |