Changing channels - a success for British television

Do you watch Das Supertalent or Deutschland sucht den Superstar? How about Let's Dance or Wer wird Millionär? These are all really popular programmes, and they all started in Britain!

Since I've been living in Germany, I've noticed that there are a lot of programmes on German television that come from British ideas. Britain's biggest exports (although in my opinion, not the best programmes) are quizzes or casting shows. Deutschland sucht den Superstar is the German version of Pop Idol, a British idea that is actually no longer shown on British television. Günther Jauch's Wer wird Millionär? originated in Britain too - Who wants to be a Millionaire?, presented by Chris Tarrant. Let's Dance, presented by Hape Kerkeling, is based on a British programme called Strictly Come Dancing. The show pairs celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, and now around 30 countries have similar programmes. And Das Supertalent was actually invented by the British entrepreneur Simon Cowell. The format is the same as Britain's Got Talent, which gave us the opera singer Paul Potts, and America's Got Talent in the US. Simon is also a juror on the British show, and people have compared Dieter Bohlen to him for his frank and sometimes mean comments!

Next year, Germany will be getting the latest and currently the most popular of British casting shows. X Factor has brought us stars like Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke. And maybe the next star has been born! Last Sunday, around 19 million British viewers tuned in to watch this year's final, won by Joe McElderry. X Factor was also invented by Simon Cowell, and is quite similar to Deutschland sucht den Superstar. However, duettes and groups are also allowed to perform together and each person in the jury gets allocated a number of candidates and is a mentor to them. This leads to rivalries between the jury members!

I'm looking forward to watching X Factor. I've heard a lot about it from my friends back in England, and it is already a hit in 16 countries around the world. So I'm curious about how it does in Germany. VOX has not yet said when the show will be broadcast, but auditions are due to start in January.