HAWKEYE - Pauline Hawkins on the week's TV

LOVE it or loathe it, Pop Idol (ITV1, Saturday) is probably the most compelling show on TV at the moment.

With more twists and turns than soap scriptwriters can muster, the challenge to find a chart-topper from nowhere goes on. Rik, the singing hillside, was out of the show with a chest infection, then midweek was given a second chance; but if he can't sing this weekend, he's out and famous reject Darius gets another shot at the big time.

Irish chatterbox Laura's tears after being deflated by the judges must have saved her from the chop, as Korben and his horrendous cap were sent packing in a surprise decision by the masses.

And then there were nine.

What's so good about Pop Idol is the mix of emotions it instils in the singers, the judges, and the watchers. But there's something else -- talent. Dark horse William, seemingly a no-hoper until he stood up to bullyboy judge Simon Cowell, blossomed live on stage -- whereas hot favourite Gareth looked like a rabbit in the headlights. From now on it's a serious test of character and commitment as well as vocal chords.

It's anyone's guess who'll win, but what are the odds on callous Cowell being dragged on stage to sing live in front of a baying crowd or a snowstorm cutting the power just as the winner is announced? You'd expect nothing less on Emmerdale.

THE Christmas cash commotion leaves me as cold as turkey leftovers so Your Money or Your Life: Christmas Special (BBC2, Tuesday) was a feast of fun for the Scrooges among us.

What a joy it is for us meanies to watch people breaking their necks to outdo each other in the gift stakes. But there is a serious side to the manic spending syndrome, as money maestro Alvin Hall found out when he met Lincolnshire couple Ray and Kate Goodall. He earns £60,000 a year but they have savings of just 69p because she buys more than 80 presents for 31 people, shopping all year round. Sadly for Kate, her family, when interviewed, could not remember what she had bought them the previous Christmas.

TROUBLE At The Top (BBC2, Tuesday), was this a documentary or a Harry Enfield show? It featured a commercial radio station which hadn't got any adverts, a soap opera about a hamster and a hyphenated toff called Torquil running the show. Who said variety is dead?