[James]

I pretty much agree with everything you say about Fame Academy Abbo. Welcome to TIBB.

My take on this, at the moment, is that they've taken bits of other reality and game shows and cobbled them together. A bit of Big Brother here, Pop Idol there and throw in some Weakest Link and Survivor for good measure.

The performances at the moment don't seem to be particulary outstanding. Mind you the voting is entertaining enough, if a bit melodramatic. For me, it is like the Eurovision - the music sends me off to the land of nod but the voting is quite exciting.

Maybe it will improve, but I'm not sure if it will capture the moment like Big Brother and Pop Idol have. The Beeb are not traditionally good at populist telly like this.