Trial by celebrity jury
Dawn French, Craig David, Alesha Dixon, Gary Barlow – now that’s an A-list judging panel! Simon Cowell’s new talent show really is...
Never mind being a contestant on the new prime-time musical contest on ITV – you’ll need nerves of steel just to watch the series conceived by Simon Cowell with typically merciless brilliance. Walk The Line is equal parts The X Factor and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, cunningly devised to push the hopefuls who are taking part to their very limit in their bid to win £500,000.
Hosted by DJ and presenter Maya Jama (above, centre), it’s playing out over six consecutive must-watch episodes from Sunday’s opener to Friday night’s dramatic climax. The series demands of the contestants that they not only put their musical talents to the test in front of the panellists and watching members of the public, but also make lifechanging decisions every step of the way about the huge pots of money at stake.
The judges are a formidable quartet, none of them known for being shy in saying what’s on their mind. There’s Craig David who, with 20 hit singles, surely merits the respect of any aspiring artist, and Alesha Dixon, familiar to viewers of Britain’s Got Talent. They are joined by the ebullient Dawn French and singer-songwriter Gary Barlow, a veteran of Cowell’s reality competition formats, having previously been a regular on The X Factor.
In each episode the winning act has the chance to go home with a tidy cash prize, starting at £10,000, rising steeply as the week continues. Or the winner can reject that money for now and instead pluck up the courage to walk out along an illuminated line on the studio floor, signalling their wish to stay on and compete against the acts on the next night, and ultimately have a chance at bagging that half a million pounds if they reach the end of the week.
But doing that also risks going home without a penny if, finally, they get the thumbs-down from viewers and the studio audience. You might say that’s a cruel fate, but life’s not always fair or kind – particularly when Simon Cowell is involved in devising the TV format.
Promising to deliver any number of moments of high tension and true drama, Walk
The Line is the kind of show that is likely to get the whole family shouting at the television in sheer exasperation, or whooping with delight as their favourite acts go through to the next round.
You might want to warn the neighbours about the noise now.
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