Published: Wednesday, 10th March, 2010 4:00pm

Degeneration in artistic merit

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I'm afraid that I do not view Cheryl Cole, Lady Gaga et al as doyens but as symptoms of a degeneration in artistic merit.

The degeneration started with computer generated special effect films, where form or appearance rates above content or storyline.

This has now spread to pop music where superficiality or appearance dominates above substance, so that we have models miming to indifferent lyrics in both girl and boy bands; the Saturday night entertainment of aspirant drunken clubbers, who despite a lack of talent nevertheless yearn for the embrace of fame. Primarily, sexy as they were, I partly blame it on the Spice Girls.

Some of their songs were good, the aggrandizement of girl power, even though written by a male liberalist.

It was always certain that Posh and Ginger would make it, in any event, nurtured as they were from an early age by their own Mrs Worthingtons.

The apogee of all this talentless aspiration is 'The X Factor', a type of zoo time, compered by those anthropoids, Ant and Dec and the arbiter of this lowering of taste, smily, 'loads of money', Simon Scowl! I gather Ms Cole was a prodigy of this rather flaky school.

Given her prodigious coverage in the news, I recognised her as the pretty girl with the thick Welsh accent who advertises shampoo, 'because we're worth it'.

No you're not, luv. Get an honest job in Tescos and don't talk through a customer to a colleague about your Saturday night out while serving.

JAMES MARTIN,

Foulford Road,

Cowdenbeath.