Chart Throb

I recently finished reading Chart Throb by Ben Elton. This is the 3rd novel by Ben Elton that I've read and although it wasn't as good as his other stuff, its still a well written story and a brilliant parody of "reality" tv shows.

The story centres around Calvin Simms who is the creator and judge of Chart Throb. Chart Throb is a reality tv show focused on finding the next big pop star and Calvin is basically the mean and nasty judge on the panel (i.e. a parody of Simon Cowell). Calvin's wife wants to divorce him and take half his fortune but in a brilliant move by Calvin, he gets her to agree to a bet where she can name any ringer she likes and he will ensure that person wins the upcoming season of Chart Throb.

This starts a brilliant series of manipulations by Calvin to not only make sure that the ringer wins the show, but to do it in such a way that the viewing public is not aware of the manipulation (which would cause the ratings to plummet and hence his bet to be forfeit). I say "brilliant" but for Calvin, its all old hat as the show has never been about finding the next big pop star as Calvin repeatedly mentions throughout the book. What the show is actually about is finding a compelling and entertaining story to tell on tv - and nothing is more entertaining than watching a parade of mingers, blingers and clingers.

Mingers, blingers and clingers is the term that Calvin uses to pigeonhole the contestants. Mingers are contestants who are woeful in every sense of the word, blingers are people who are just there to show off and clingers are people who desperately want to be successful. The first thing you note is that an ability to sing never comes up when Calvin judges who will be contestants.

Ben Elton really lets his imagination run wild here in creating the various mingers, blingers and clingers. Equally brilliant are the various ways that Calvin manipulates things to ensure that he gets an entertaining mix of contestants while also making sure that the ringer wins. Obviously, I'm giving reality tv shows the benefit of the doubt here by assuming that the contents of the book are all a result of Ben's imagination!!

Despite the high praise though, the ending of the book is a bit anti-climactic. Having said that, I've been thinking about alternative endings and I really couldn't think of anything better. Ultimately, I guess the nature of the subject, and possbily how the story developed, limits how you can end the book. Although I have to give credit to Ben Elton for the way he ultimately ended the story (as I said, I couldn't think of anything better), it still felt anti-climactic and my impression at the moment I finished the novel was "oh, that's it?".

Still - a very worthy read if you have time and particularly if you like reality tv shows.