I watched The Voice UK a couple of weeks ago and watched their auditions. I see in X Factor and Idols videos, that the judges sometimes laugh at bad contestants! There is no dignity left and what will happen after this is shown on television? Will this contestant remain living normal without being looked down on? I don’t think so. In opposite the contestants of the Voice must first do audition via the an open audition which is not televised. So if there are really bad singers , they will not be embarrassed in front of a audience at home. This keeps people dignified so they can still do their normal stuff without other people looking down on them.
Only a couple of singers continue to the blind audition. The judges are put with their backs to the contestant, so the judges only will be able to judge on the voice of the singer namely the Blind Auditions. After they noticed the singing skills the can press their button to let the contestant join on of impressed judges’ team. Mostly good singers but also some less skilled singers are asked to do these auditions. What was surprising me was, that even when the particular singer was bad, there weren’t any insults. Only constructive feedback that mentioned things that the particular singer could improve. One of the judges (Danny O’Donoghue) said:
“The stance we’ve taken is that you can deliver bad news in a good way. Maybe it’s not great for ratings but we had a 17-year-old on our show and she wasn’t great. Are we going to destroy her so she couldn’t walk down the street? Absolutely not”
Simon Cowell, was judge in American Idol and is judge in X Factor UK&US, thinks differently about bringing bad news. He often says that people’s singing is awful without really delivering useful feedback for the contestant to improve their singing, afterwards. Also other judges at X Factor and Idol do not deliver useful feedback, with exceptions of course.
X Factor and Idol have high watching rates. Who wouldn’t like to watch people laughed at and insulted. But is it all worth it? I don’t think it is. Shows like The Voice have more potential. I’d rather watch a show that leaves peoples dignity and is less sensational then watching a show which is sensational because the judges insulting the contestants.
