The X Factor, American Idol, Pop Idol, Britain's Got Talent, The Voice, dozens and dozens of these reality talent shows (2/3 of that phrase can be debated) and I think I can say without question, this is an over-saturated market and we are sick of it. Not only is there way too many of these shows but there are very little differences between them, they can all be interchanged with minor differences. However, that's not the only problem that plagues these programmes, even if there were only one or two of them they still face a lot of problems.
Number One - The melodrama: These shows rely way too much on the melodrama to try and keep people interested in watching the show, whether that be a tragic backstory, a problem with a fellow contestant or...I don't know they're allergic to cats or something, trust me these guys will try to squeeze drama out of anything. Now why they do this is understandable, we as human beings love drama, it's like seeing a car crash, you know you shouldn't stare but you just can't look away, it's the same with putting drama in a reality show, it just makes it so much more juicy and important. But they can go overboard with the drama to the point where they seem to have forgotten the fun. When I watched shows like this, I watched them because they were fun, seeing people sing on a bright and colourful stage and watching the judges crack jokes at each other, it was a lot of fun, now with every contestant needing a tragic past in order to be on the show, I'm pretty sure Batman would be watching and shouting "dude, lighten the fuck up!". Really the only show that seems to have kept the fun is Britain's Got Talent, which these days is the only talent show I can stand, however, with that being said, BGT still has plenty of problems...
Number Two - The copycat acts: This is a problem that plagues the music specific shows the most, there isn't nearly enough variety within the musical acts as they all look the same, sound the same and act the same, it really is one of those "everyone's a winner!" type of things, because they're all pretty much the same person. And this is a problem that BGT faces as well, for what is supposed to be a variety show, there are a surprising amount of singers who all sound the same, have the same image and don't stand out in any way or make themselves unique.
Number Three - The Winners Don't Win: When was the last time anyone talked about Joe McElderry? or listened to a Ruben Studdard Album? Or gave a shit about what Michelle McManus is doing these days? How many of you would have to google those names to even know who they are? Let's face it, a winning act almost never goes big after the show ends, 95% of them end up with their first album flopping harder than a fish on dry land. If anything the runners up end up having a more successful career than the winners, it's like they're cursed and the only way to break it is to carry a small orphan boy up a mountain to drink from the stream that runs uphill...no wait that's the ending to Holes...
If anyone really thinks that this is the way to make it into the industry, allow me to give you some advice...It's not...it's really...really not...
- Danny
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