Big Eggs has been voted off the celebrity singing contest... he is relieved and me too. I spent one night with him at the studio for the filming of the programme (which goes out live) and he was very nervous and agitated. When his time came he gave his all only then to be criticised by three non-entities on the panel. And with millions watching nationwide. Why put yourself through that every week?
Polish television can be split into three groups:
1) Programmes copied from British tv. eg. Quiz shows, chat shows and 'lifestyle' shows (another word Poles don't have). The Weakest Link and Who Wants to be a Millionaire have only just hit the screens here and are hugely popular. Only the other day I was at a shop counter fishing around for my wallet and the assistant beamed at me... "Do you want to phone a friend?" Excuse me while I roll around with my sides aching.
2) Real-life type police 'Detective' situations with shaky hand-held cameras following aggressive and emergency situations. All the voices are muffled and faces obscured, with beeps every few seconds, and it makes for deeply tedious and oppressive television. It's essentially an excuse to show the police, who in Poland are usually fat and dressed up like the SAS in combat, supposedly tracking down criminals with mainly violent means.
3) Soaps imported from South America. All non-Polish programmes and films are not dubbed or subtitled, but have one person (voiceover) who reads everyone lines without any sort of emotion. It is most odd, but that is how Poles watch the box.
I have no television at home as it is just tripe. I hope before long to organise some satellite so that I can get some channels from the UK.
