Are talent shows useful to music ?

Unpopular opinion : I love talent shows, (“télé-crochet “ in French). And particularly musical talent shows. The Voice, Star academy, I watch them all. In this article, I will explain why I think it is worth seeing despite all its flaws.

As this article is a bit oriented in its response, I’ll made a reminder of its drawbacks (although they are pretty obvious) :

• Talent shows are commercial, not qualitative : that is unfortunately a bit true. Talent shows are made to find an artist that would please the crowd and that would be able to generate money. I am ok with that, Money is that rule the world, I cannot change it. It’s not because it is about entertainment that it will change.
• Talent shows are predictable. At the beginning of the show, you are able to guess who will win it. I am not so naïve and I know what are the expectations of the producers that try to manipulate the audience. Same as before, I think this is the rule of the game. As long as you are aware of it, it should not change your own feelings and opinions about an artist.
• Talent shows are hypocrites. They are incensing people who participate but after the show is over, if the success is not there, they forget you very easily. It has caused many depressions on young artists who went from fame to shame instantly. I can only deplore that, it is very cruel to play with people’s dreams. We have to remember that being an artist is still a job and talent and exposition are not enough.

Now that we are clear on what is sold to us, I will explain why I am still buying it.

1. Talents shows are entertainment

I do not watch so much TV besides talent shows. When I turn it on, it is all about depressing news, political debates, uninteresting movies. Talent shows are bringing some fun, glitters and entertainment and personally I need it.

2. Talent shows are showing talents

It sounds like a pleonasm but I believe that the reason why talent shows were created is still there : it is presenting people with talent. A talent sometimes imperfect and which needs to be refined but still, some artists discovered on talent shows (at least in France) are still acting in the artistic area years after participating on talent shows.

3. Talents shows are a way to discover new artists

Here I am not speaking about the apprentice talents but about already professional artists who came presenting their song. Or the songs the talents are singing. In talent shows, I have discovered many gems I did not know before : Katie Melua, Patti Smith, Janie (french singer)…

It is sometimes hidden within the mass of kitchen-sink popular songs (but not as différent as what is broadcasted on the radio) but on occasions, it can enlarge your musical knowledge.

4. Talent shows encourage diversity

This one may be controversial. I understand that on the first view, talent shows seem stereotyped and locked into very commercial singing.However, competition means challenge and the winner is sometimes the one that has been able to adapt to a different artistic proposal. Theatre, dance, unusual type of music (lyrical, rap, musical,…). Also, as the production likes to have different personalities in their show, we have, at least at the beginning of the show, a great variety of voices and musical styles.

5. Talent shows present the process

In the prolongation of the previous argument, what I found interesting in talent shows is not the winner but the path. What the candidates have done to evolve their inner talent but also a little screenshot of how it works behind the scenes. How you do to prepare a show, to prepare your voice, to compose a song, to build your artistic direction. It reminds us that as in every job, talent is not enough and work with method is required, even in a creative business.

Here are my arguments to watch talent shows. It may class me in the groupe of the “domestic woman aged less than 50 years” (this is how we called in French the target of non-brain programs, not sure if it has an equivalent in english…) but I assume and I know the reasons why.

What about you, readers, do you watch these programs and if you don’t, maybe do not stop to your first thoughts and have a look, you may be surprised.