The small army of contemporary singing stars assembled for the Band Aid 20 single have made the mistake of being overly reverential to the original version; delivering their lines in an enervating and timid manner.
The main problem with this insipid update of the 1984 song is the line-up. The organisers wanted a broad cross-section of acts to maximise the sales potential but that still doesn't justify the inclusion of Busted who are a patently ridiculous cartoon punk-pop band.
Similarly, Will Young is not much more than a jumped-up karaoke singer while the leading role given to Travis's Fran Healy is mystifying given that the band peaked three years ago and even then were hardly noted for the strength of Healy's voice.
The most egregious mistake though is the inclusion of some new raps by Dizzee Rascal - intended, no doubt, to give the song a "cutting-edge" appeal but the effect is more Ali G than urban cool.
Even Justin Hawkins of The Darkness can't elevate the limp and flat mood here. Hawkins has a great rock falsetto vocal but sounds curiously reined in and really could have, and should have, given it a bit more welly.
To tackle this song properly, the cast should have forgotten entirely about imitating the original version. That said, they were all hamstrung by those awful Transition Year lyrics - "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you" etc.
But a good interpretative singer can rise above the banality of the words he/she has to sing. It would have greatly helped Band Aid 20's case to have used the real musical talent around at the moment - acts like The Libertines, The Streets and Franz Ferdinand would have pumped some life into this dull anthem - and spared us from the bland warblings of Busted and Will Young.
