Culture: Reality TV: Work
grot idol   (+2, -1)  [vote for, against]
never have to work again!

some 20,000 wannabes from up and down the land will flock to the auditions. ordinary workers from all walks of life, who wish to escape the rat-race for ever. from these, the jury must pare the numbers right down to 10 hopefuls.

each week, the contestants have to take on a really grotty job and make a fair fist of it, with a display of flair and individuality: jobs like –
lumberjack
encyclopaedia brittanica salesman
fast food operative
taxi driver
famous magician’s publicist
construction worker
pig farmer
ballet dancer
grease dumpster emptying guy
that person who has to desemenate a bull
proctologist

at the end of their ordeal, they must face the jury, who will undermine the skills and talent exhibited, with rude sarcasm and rapier wit. however, a baying television audience controls the final votes.

the winning contestant receives a massive cash prize, new car, luxury holiday in Hawaii and a lifetime’s supply of chocolate digestives.
every week there are floods of tears and dashed dreams that occasionally make this show uncomfortable viewing - but it is a timely reminder of how early retirement with a full pension whilst retaining your compos mentis and a full set of teeth is an almost unattainable dream.
-- po, Sep 24 2003

Another article about the Arab show http://www.hollands...new_081903053.shtml
Because krelnik's link didn't work right, for me. [Vernon, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Sam should have won by a mile... http://www.itv.com/popidol/bios_sam.stm
[po, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

This is almost too real. Oh wait, there's good stuff at the end.
-- kevindimie, Sep 24 2003


Some of those seem like distinctly ungrotty jobs - maybe that's just because I'm unemployed...
-- hippo, Sep 24 2003


which one do you fancy doing then, hippo?
-- po, Sep 24 2003


(Some translation for Americans: "grot" is British slang for dirt or grime, and "Pop Idol" is the original title of what you know as "American Idol").
-- krelnik, Sep 24 2003


thank you krelnik. I thought yours was called the same :)
-- po, Sep 24 2003


What do egyptians from Port Said call their regional version of Pop Idol, I wonder?

(first one to guess the correct answer gets a big orange)
-- squeak, Sep 24 2003


// C'mon, at least give them some real suck-ass jobs: //

Proctologist.
-- waugsqueke, Sep 24 2003


Nope [waugs]. Not even close.
-- squeak, Sep 24 2003


See my last anno. I like your answer though. Quite surreal. Just made me choke on my tea.
-- squeak, Sep 24 2003


Actually, there is an Arab world version of "Pop Idol," it just wrapped up a few weeks ago. It is called "Superstar". See link.
-- krelnik, Sep 24 2003


oh not port side AGAIN!
-- po, Sep 24 2003


I'll give you all a clue. It's a feeble pun on how I feel after watching one of these shows.
-- squeak, Sep 24 2003


+ Instead of just a regular cash prize they should give you a million-dollar contract to do one of the jobs for a year.
-- AO, Sep 24 2003


Aw. You spoil all my fun you do [waugsqueke].
-- squeak, Sep 24 2003


Alright . It was Suez Idol.

I apologise.

(but proctologist would work too)
-- squeak, Sep 24 2003


<SC>Don’t take this the wrong way but I prefer you when I close my eyes</SimonCowell not StarChaser>
-- po, Sep 24 2003


Telemarketer... sorry ;-)
-- RayfordSteele, Sep 24 2003


<Thinks that "American Idol" has certainly not replaced "Pop Idol" in most vocabularies.>
-- bristolz, Sep 24 2003


The mexican version is called "Pop stars" (yes, in english).

But we claim we're an ideologically independant country.
-- Pericles, Sep 24 2003


If I could bash out all my teeth and lose my mind right now, would you give me the prize? And what the hell do I need the digestive biscuits for? Oh, bikkies. Sorry, my un-England mind took a minute on that one. Yes please, as well as a lifetime supply of Jamaican ginger cake from Sainsbury's.

Oh, and I'd like to be David Blaine's publicist. I could use the hamburgers.
-- k_sra, Sep 25 2003


with panache?
-- po, Sep 25 2003


even the //that person who has to desemenate a bull // ?
-- po, Sep 25 2003


Gross!
-- k_sra, Sep 28 2003


let this programme be the end of all talent shows. woowoo. croissant po!
-- jonthegeologist, Sep 28 2003


Buggar! Sam has gone.

how come the US has had 3 Pop Idols when we are just concluding our 2nd and we started the event?
-- po, Dec 13 2003


Because we overdo everything until everyone is sick of it, then we move on to the next thing.
-- krelnik, Dec 13 2003


thats a shame. less is more in my mind.

by the way - thank you for the link, Vernon. you don't do that very often.
-- po, Dec 13 2003


congratulations to Michelle.
-- po, Dec 20 2003



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