Now that September is (almost) over, that means you have probably been watching all of the TV you possibly can... But the one thing that tickles my mind are the competition series... I mean, why keep coming back?
So, what happens after having that moment?
It's that time of year where you pick up the remote and begin to watch a flood of TV shows that you last left in the Spring season, or have just begun to air. While there are series that one can follow, there is a certain genre of television that keeps coming back: the competition series.
And don't get me wrong, I will most likely watch these shows! What gets me confused is the fact that we follow these contestants for four months, and see whether they improve, if they'll mess up, and the results that the public have chosen... But once the winner has been revealed, their momentum doesn't last even for a week. Why do we invest so much time in the series if we don't even support the aftermath of their televised success? This doesn't apply to some shows, but the ones that always ask to vote (singing competitions), what happens to them?!
It all started with a simple concept, and from that formula some people tweaked the concept just a *little* bit, attracted us with the judges, and poof! There are endless versions of the same show.
This isn't about pointing out the numerous, excessive series there are, but the fact that once the show's over, so are the contestant's careers. Unless a judge has a record label and sees potential, why do we even bother with all of these hyped-up shows?
Let's review the series that have been currently airing/currently ended and see what happens to those winners:
- The Voice: Never heard a single song after their wins.
- The X Factor: Runner-Ups are the real winners, while the actual winner receives some success
- The Sing-Off/The Next/Any low-budgeted versions of the same show: Uh...
- American Idol: Actually get a single and (hopefully) even more!
- America's Got Talent: Vegas Residence show (can't wait to see!)
- So You Think You Can Dance: Pretty sure go to some dance company/popularity
- Dancing With The Stars: The pop singer will most likely win (but, Bill Nye this season!)
- America's Next Top Model: Don't bother to pick up the magazine they are promised to pose in
- The Amazing Race: A trip around the world (who wouldn't want to do this show?!)
- The Bachelor/The Bachelorette: Why?
Okay, so not all of the shows are the exact same format, but let's focus on the singing competitions. I mean, we invest so much time and effort to judge their performances, vote to keep them in the competition, yet we don't stay interested to listen to their own creations once they win. The ONLY show that actually creates at least a song that gets attention is American Idol - and that show is barely floating by these days.
Maybe these television series tell us something: no matter how many alters are added to a show, people just want a simple series that is easy to follow. With American Idol, each person is given a song and they sing, judges critique, and then people are told to vote. Now why change a great concept to 'Blind Auditions,' 'Duels,' and even Group Formations? Do we just like to see different ideas of the same competition?
TV is a hard thing to understand, but somehow we all manage to watch these shows at once. Maybe we're all in it for the thrill of the game.
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