QUOTE (dansus @ May 4 2009, 04:14) 
I watched the Bahrain race again in an empty house, on the sofa as opposed to on the pc as normal in order to assess what Legard is doing that makes him a poor commentator and also think about what makes a good one....
The main conclusion i came to is that the person, whether it the lead, colour or pit needs to have the ability to take a moment of whats happening on the screen and tell a story round it with enthusiasm that endears the viewer to both the action and commentator themselves.
Listening to the likes of Brundle and Edwards, they seem to latch on to a moment ie the camera switches to 3 cars all tucked under each others wing, immediately, a commentator with some caliber will give you the most important information needed, then goes on to give extra information around it that is less obvious to the average viewer, carrying on with this thought to a conclusion or until something noteworthy happens on screen. All done with a sense of enthusiasm that begs of you to take notice and endears them to the audience through their sense of occasion and passion.
Like i say, its about telling a story. Its well known for generations that the one that can tell a good story round the camp fire gets the attention and applause, its human nature and applies to every aspect of life.
Unfortunately Legard doesnt posses these natural skills of flowing speech and the ability to tell a story that conveys the action and it shows with cringe worthy effect when focused and broadcast in such a way as the job of commentating on F1 does. Its not in his nature, which is why i have dubbed him 'Shopping list announcer Legard' and say he will not improve to a great degree over the next two years. I really dont want to have to put up with his inabilitys over that time, especially when there are better alternatives to be hired.
Moreover, and i only noticed this when watching again, its doubly grating when his inabilitys start effecting others, namely Brundle. I quickly noticed that Martin ends up doing much of the heavy lifting early on, constantly picking himself up and trying his best to gee Legard along. In the end theres only so much he can do without someone to bounce off and eventually resigns himself to this lower pace and suffers for it, sounding worn out in the end. He cant do Legards job and shouldnt have to, hopefully Martin himself will push the BBC to replace him.
So who could do the job, whos available? Im not sure at this point, but names i would put forward are Ben Edwards, Simon Hill, Martin Haven, maybe even Crofty at a push. Will Buxtons name has popped up recently and is currently doing the FOM feed, but what i would love to see someone new, maybe a youngster from that famous BBC broom cupboard like Jake coming in and blowing us all away.
Who knows, but for all things holy, please BBC... find a replacement for next year.
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The main conclusion i came to is that the person, whether it the lead, colour or pit needs to have the ability to take a moment of whats happening on the screen and tell a story round it with enthusiasm that endears the viewer to both the action and commentator themselves.
Listening to the likes of Brundle and Edwards, they seem to latch on to a moment ie the camera switches to 3 cars all tucked under each others wing, immediately, a commentator with some caliber will give you the most important information needed, then goes on to give extra information around it that is less obvious to the average viewer, carrying on with this thought to a conclusion or until something noteworthy happens on screen. All done with a sense of enthusiasm that begs of you to take notice and endears them to the audience through their sense of occasion and passion.
Like i say, its about telling a story. Its well known for generations that the one that can tell a good story round the camp fire gets the attention and applause, its human nature and applies to every aspect of life.
Unfortunately Legard doesnt posses these natural skills of flowing speech and the ability to tell a story that conveys the action and it shows with cringe worthy effect when focused and broadcast in such a way as the job of commentating on F1 does. Its not in his nature, which is why i have dubbed him 'Shopping list announcer Legard' and say he will not improve to a great degree over the next two years. I really dont want to have to put up with his inabilitys over that time, especially when there are better alternatives to be hired.
Moreover, and i only noticed this when watching again, its doubly grating when his inabilitys start effecting others, namely Brundle. I quickly noticed that Martin ends up doing much of the heavy lifting early on, constantly picking himself up and trying his best to gee Legard along. In the end theres only so much he can do without someone to bounce off and eventually resigns himself to this lower pace and suffers for it, sounding worn out in the end. He cant do Legards job and shouldnt have to, hopefully Martin himself will push the BBC to replace him.
So who could do the job, whos available? Im not sure at this point, but names i would put forward are Ben Edwards, Simon Hill, Martin Haven, maybe even Crofty at a push. Will Buxtons name has popped up recently and is currently doing the FOM feed, but what i would love to see someone new, maybe a youngster from that famous BBC broom cupboard like Jake coming in and blowing us all away.
Who knows, but for all things holy, please BBC... find a replacement for next year.
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Well said and SPOT ON
I suggest you copy this text directly onto the feedback/complaints section of the BBC website.
Opinions... people have them, it's a warning in life that they may differ from yours.
So true. If Schumacher were chocolate Windsor would have eaten him many times over!
