FOCUS ON TALENT, NOT TORTURE
‘Those who have stepped forward [pregnant pause] will move [another pregnant pause] to the next round [screams and tears], but for the rest of you, it is the end…[contestant collapses]…quick! call the medics!’
After the coroner’s report confirmed that the contestant tragically died of a heart attack, another report is inquiring into what they call ‘torture tactics’ used in TV talent shows.
Of course this has not happened. Yet.
But the recent Hollywood group rounds of American Idol saw contestants fainting and collapsing during rehearsals and performances and medics were called in [http://realityrewind.com/american-idol-2012-more-contestants-faint-during-dramatic-american-idol-episode-video-352189/]. And this is long before the final announcements. The drama was trivialised as ‘not for the faint of heart’.
Such dramas boost ratings and the TV programs would have contractual terms and conditions that would legally indemnify them from any personal stress or injury associated with the contestants’ experiences.
But such a scenario may be the wake up call needed to temper the drama when judges announce winners and losers.
The advent of this new genre of TV programs where contestants are progressively eliminated or voted off has been a magnet for ratings and advertising revenue. Programs such as American Idol, The X Factor, Australia’s Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars, Australia’s next top model all capitalise on a cliff-hanger climax that maximises adrenalin among both contestants and viewers.
In a recent episode of American Idol, contestants actually passed out when the prolonged pauses and suspense was almost literally killing them.
Of course such commercially successful shows deliberately seek to milk the moment of judgement by enhancing the drama and emotion. They capitalise on the ‘edge of your seat’ pauses, zoom in on tears, add heart-thumping music, use a cryptic script to intensify the suspense, and separate contestants into ‘torture chambers’ where they try to comfort each other as they wait for the approaching footsteps of their judges. This is a painful price to pay for their desire to participate in what they thought was a TV talent quest.
These torture tactics have evolved into art forms within themselves (‘and the winner…will be announced after this break’). And the focus on the celebrity judges is detracting from the focus on the contestants’ talents. But how long must these drum rolls continue before we bang the gong?
For decades, hosts of similar contests such as beauty pageants have drawn out their announcements with a high degree of emotion. Some may argue that if the contestants cannot handle the heat (pun intended), they should get out of the kitchen. After all, it is intended as a game for entertainment, not a life or death sentence.
Elimination rounds, short lists, second interviews and rejection announcements are a fact of life in job applications, sporting tournaments and business tenders. The sleepless nights and stress levels are not peculiar to TV talent shows. However, the commercial and public exploitation of these humiliations and exaltations have become part of our entertainment. We hold our breath with our favourite contestants and share their emotional outburst as we exhale with them.
But if something tragic occurred, would the game accept any blame?
Has the elimination announcement morphed into commercial cliff-hanger that is exploited by sadistic judges and voyeuristic viewers?
It was not until Princess Diana Spencer and Dodi Fayed were tragically killed in a high speed car chase to escape the paparazzi in 1997 http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/31/newsid_2510000/2510615.stm]”> that the tactics of intrusive tabloid photographers attracted public outcries and law reform in Europe and California [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2009/10/will_californias_new_anti-pap.html].
Such tactics had to be tamed in order to protect privacy and respect curfews. Similarly, the nail biting tactics in these TV talent shows may continue to chew all the way to the bone until or unless the public demand temperament.
There is nothing wrong with ‘Congratulations to all contestants, but there can only be one winner, who is …’, and focusing more on the talents than the torture.