Back from the dead! It's...
Some time ago, last year I think, I mentioned in passing a little show RTE, our national TV channel, had premiered and then dumped. At the time, the channel was rolling out several potential pilot shows to see what struck a chord, and it seemed this one was not to be one of the chosen. However, this last month "The Hit" has returned in triumph" as a fully-blown show for RTE, and it seems like my faith in the programme was justified, its potential finally seen by the Suits.
Not just another reality TV show, and certainly not an X-Factor/Idol wannabe, The Hit features six Irish singer/songwriters, who are chosen from probably hundreds who submit songs to the show. These six are then sequestered in six separate booths, and two well-known Irish artistes are invited to choose from them whose song they will pick as their new single. The songs are all chosen by producer supremo Steve Lillywhite, and each week it's two different artistes who select the songs for that week. Each artiste can enter each booth as many times as he or she wants, stay as long or as short a time as they like, and when they find a song they like and think they could record they must "lock" the room, by punching the electronic door lock. This room is then unavailable to the other artiste. Each artiste is required to lock in two songs, and from these two they will eventually choose one to be recorded.
It's a different and original idea, in that the songs are all written by the people involved, with no help from anyone, and they must play and sing them without any form of accompaniment other than what they use themselves, be it a guitar, a keyboard or some other instrument. There is no band or backing singers involved. They literally play to an audience of one (although of course we're all listening too) and that listener could very well be the one who decides their future. When the two songs have each been chosen, the artistes have one meeting with the songwriters before going into the studio to record the song they choose. That song is then premiered on the show, and the two songwriters on each side find out whose song has been chosen. It's a bittersweet disappointment for one --- to have come so far and fall at the final fence --- while for the other it's the realisation of a dream and a real shot at the big time.
Where I can, I've put a video of the original performance of the song alongside the finished article, recorded by the guest musician, but in some cases these have not been available. One small niggle I would have is that sometimes the interpretation these artistes put on the songs change them in ways I would prefer they weren't changed, as in Julie Feeney's version of "New tattoo", which I think is awful and ruins the song, and Duke Special's butchering of "1969". I didn't and don't like the song, but Special took all the fire, passion and energy out of the song and castrated it so that he could play it as a ballad on his piano. Perhaps appropriately, it's not available on YouTube, but I think he made an awful job of it. Other, like Johnny Logan's treatment of "Prayin'" and The Stunning's rewriting of "Run and hide", to say nothing of Brian Kennedy's "Try", really enhanced and brought out the best in songs which perhaps needed that little something.
The first two artistes to make the choice in week one were Steve Wall of Irish band The Stunning, who initially chose "Run and hide" by Alice Lynskey as their new single,
while the other artiste, Julie Feeney, plumped for Tommy Moore's "New tattoo".
Week two saw the appearance of Brian Kennedy and Ryan O'Shaughnessy, who chose Sean Redmond's "Try"
and Mark Graham and Frances Mitchell's "Who do you love"
respectively. This week it was the turn of Eurovision legend Johnny Logan and someone called Duke Special (no, I don't know who he is either) and they went for, in Johnny's case, Alan Earls' "Prayin'"
and in Duke's "1969" by sixteen-year-old Aaron Hackett .
The week following the choice each song's performance it totalled up on Irish radio and its chart position ascertained, with the song coming in the highest going on to the grand finale at the end of the month. The show is hosted by RTE radio 2FM's Aidan Power and Westlife's Nicky Byrne, and is proving very popular on TV. I'm delighted to finally see an original idea, not copied from US or UK TV but our own, homegrown effort, and more to the point, that the show gives exposure and publicity to the wealth of Irish songwriting talent that's out there, and for some, the chance to step onto the national stage, and perhaps even further. Even for those who don't make it, they get to perform their songs to a national television audience and whether or not the artistes pick them, they might hear something that could make them want to talk to the songwriters after the show, or put them in touch with people who might be able to help them on their own road to fame.
A worthy effort, a thoroughly entertaining show and something which finally --- finally --- steps outside the constricting, suffocating confines of shows like the X-Factor. These are real people, singing real songs:
their songs, not the parroted mimicry of songs that are already well known. There is no Boot Camp, no famous musician to help them hone their craft, and thank the lord God almighty, no audience or text-in vote! It's left entirely up to the guest artistes to decide what song they want to choose to record, and so it should be. After all, this is their new single they're picking, not some crappy record to make Simon Cowell or Louis Walsh even richer. Other shows could learn a lot from "The Hit".
(For those interested, the show has its own YouTube channel where you can listen to all the songs from the previous three episodes, and later those yet to come. There's also an app you can download, but unless you're in Ireland that's probably going to be of little interest to you).