Walk The Line

[tellyblues]

If the £500,000 grand prize can be won by anybody then the format is a complete and utter joke. Friday's "final" apparently has four brand new contestants. How is that fair?

[Gary Baldy]

If the £500,000 grand prize can be won by anybody then the format is a complete and utter joke. Friday's "final" apparently has four brand new contestants. How is that fair?

Because anyone can swoop in and win money from the reigning champ, who may have won all 5 shows for example beforehand and then somebody new comes into blow the audience away. Also, the audience aren't aware of who was on the previous show etc, they have to vote off that night's performances alone.

[mccanmat]

I suspect viewing figures won’t be high as the trailers for the programme didn’t even make it clear what the show was about only some judges waving at the camera and Maya saying about walking a line…. Vague in the vaguest… the mixture of judges don’t scream music show either

[all new Phil]

Caught some of this and wasn’t overly impressed. I do feel shows like this should be live, they take on a strange overpolished feel when they’re prerecorded that I find hard to get into. The panel added very little, especially Dawn French. Just all felt incredibly flat.

[Brekkie]

3m last night which is about the ballpark now for such new shows I suspect. The test will be whether they go up or down this week.

[Brekkie]

Talent so far tonight seems much stronger and more varied than last night making a better show, but the performances themselves feel very short and they are going down the cliched sob story route a bit too often.

[TJTSW]

At least they got rid of those bars behind the judges, why they they put them behind last nights winner she seems a bit plonked there, and if I was sat behind her you wouldn’t get a good view if you where in the audience,

[eyeTV]

I think the fact it's only 1-hour runtime is one of the better decisions. Often these shows are way too dragged out, so I can at least appreciate the pace.

[Brekkie]

Yes - less is certainly more. Actually enjoyed every performance to an extent tonight whilst was underwhelmed by them all really last night.

The ending seems to be flawed though with last nights champ basically getting a chance at guaranteed cash and possibly the other persons fate only being affected by their decision. For the central premise of the show it's all a bit clunky too.

[brioalex]

Well I’ve given it two episodes and I can’t say I’m a fan so far. I appreciate ITV trying new ideas but i find the show a bit overly complicated… I can’t help but think they should actually have to Walk the Line or not before the time runs out. Then once at the end the stage lights gold if their gamble pays off?

[Brekkie]

For me too to Walk the Line would be to walk away with the cash, not stay on. There is just something that doesn't quite work with it but nothing that probably couldn't be fixed. Feels a bit anti-climatic at the moment.

I also think the show might suffer if returning champions stick around too long - gets a bit boring seeing the same person making the decision night after night.

[AJB39]

I’m enjoying the show so far and the standard of singing was better tonight. However an obvious flaw as Brekkie pointed out was that by refusing the cash last night the reigning champion was guaranteed the £20,000 if they wanted it tonight regardless of how well they actually performed tonight. I will be continuing to watch the show though.

[tellyblues]

The performances still aren't that great and it seems that Ella is being set up to win the whole thing or at the very least have a career once the show is over because her getting far would make her credible somehow, aided by the fact she is the only one doing original songs. Offers of pitiful amounts (compared to 500k) also gets people on her side.

The audience may be different each episode but choosing between one person doing an original song and everyone else doing covers leans the vote in favour to the former as people don't have an original to compare to and performing an original can be seen as more effort from the individual concerned.

[UBox]

Well I watched last night and the ending tonight and have to say I'm not a fan.

My biggest problem is actually the line itself. If you're naming a show or creating a format point then that name/point should be integral to the show (take the Masked Singer for example, the whole show is about the masks, the working out who's behind them and the reveals). The line on Walk the Line has no real purpose. Walking the Line is just a fancy way of saying whether you'll stick or risk it and has no real relevance to the rest of the show. I was expecting some sort of financial risk as you got further along the line where you risked more depending on how many votes you got.

[Brekkie]

I was thinking about having the line represent 1st to 5th place and you basically walk to where you think you fit in the line, with higher cash offers the further you go but walk too far and you lose out.

Although I usually find Prisoners Dilemmas a bit lazy in game shows it does feel like this needs both the defending champ and top performer of the newbies to be actively involved in the final process. I also think it would be better if the defending champ is only involved if they're in the top 2 - if they're not they've lost their change of money completely.

The judges also feel like an afterthought in this moment. Talking to them during the 60 second countdown with the crowd screaming just isn't good viewing - would be better to either naturally do it for advise, or better IMO that after the audience vote, but before any of the 5 are eliminated, each judge is asked who they think will top the vote tonight.


Ultimately there is something there but the central premise needs a bit of fine tuning.