[Feefs]

Sorry if I sounded stroppy, but I spend much of my day defending the rights of any of the pop idols to be allowed near the charts. BMG/19 are not perfect and the whole TOTP thing is a classic example, but it's also an example of how the rest of the music industry really doesn't care if Will won Pop Idol.

I really hope Will (and Gareth and Zoe esp) do well, but it's so important that they remember they need to prove themselves with each record. They've got a foot in the door, but all eyes are on them to make a mess of things, so they have to be twice as good as the competition. I worry that these complaints of ill treatment are giving amunition to those who think PI contestants have had their 15-minutes, and should hand the music back to the grown-ups.

On a more positive note, I've heard the PI album is #1 in the compilation album chart, even though I've heard a number of sarcastic comments about it on the radio. It runs the karaoke accusation risk, but it's still good music well sung released on the back of a sell out arena tour. That's something that helps to demonstrate the PI phenomenon was more than a tv show.

I also heard Will has either written or co-written 3 tracks on his album, so hopefully that will quieten a few people. Not writing their own music or playing their own instruments is a very common criticism, so anything that challenges this world-view is helpful. That's also why I think it helps all of them that Gareth played the piano on the tour. It wasn't much, and it wasn't that complex, but it's still more than most singers would do.