The News Of The World have reported today on the close links between some of the finalists on ITV’s Grease Is The Word and BBC’s Any Dream Will Do, and top record producers.

They explain that from Grease Is The Word, Susan McFadden has close ties to Simon Cowell through her brother, Brian McFadden and Antony Kavanagh has already had a two record deal with Virgin records.

On Any Dream Will Do, Craig Chalmers has already been a finalist on Pop Idol and entered the UK top ten with a Scottish band called No Reason.

A TV insider revealed: “There are serious questions being raised about how many shows like this can be sustained.
“Popstars, Pop Idol, The X Factor and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria drained the talent pool.

“That is the main reason why The X Factor has lowered the age of entry this year to just 14 – the producers realise they need to find people who haven’t appeared on TV before.”

What do you think? Are we running out of undiscovered talent in the UK or could there be a more sinister explanation for all these ‘coincidences’?