TV ebiz show fails to generate any killer ideas

We return to our tracking of the Channel 4's bandwagon-jumping ecommerce extravaganza, The E-Millionaire Show.

On the panel last night were Stelios Haji-Ioanou of Easyeverything fame; Mariella Frostrup the gravelly voiced TV presenter; and founder of Orchestream, Charlie Muirhead.

Apart from Mariella Frostrup pointing out that everytime Stelios said anything it was about himself, what did the panel have to say about the proposals?

Stelios was so impressed with one finalist's pitch - Youreable.com - that he invited him to call his office after the show. This was the presentation from Joe Rajko. He proposed a portal site for disabled people, focussing largely on travel facilities. Panel rating? 24 out of 30.

Before that though, we were treated to Viewahotel.com. This was designed to save people from Fawlty Towers-esque nightmare hotels by allowing punters to view their destination in 3D before booking.

The trouble is, dodgy hotels are unlikely to be queuing to be rendered in 3D online, and as we are still waiting for BT to sort out ADSL, download times could be seriously long. The panel poo-pooed this one, giving it a measly 11 points.

Next was Mykindofholiday.com, a one stop travel shop complete with interactive chat rooms. Sadly this fared little better than the hotel site - only 13 points. The main drawback of launching a travel site is the crowded market, the panel said.

Not that Stelios was going to back this one anyway, the poor contestant had the nerve to say she wouldn't be using his bucket, sorry, budget airline.

Monday's winner, if you didn't watch, was Alex Buckley's Com-poser.com - make your own music online then buy a CD of it. And if you want to vote for any of the contestants, go here and follow the signs.

More tomorrow, if it's worth it. ®

But if you want to read more stories about ebiz and hard cash click here

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