Celebrities as talent competition jurors
WAS IT “American Idol” that started it all? Time was when judges for TV talent competitions were chosen for their expertise, perceptiveness, objectivity and good judgment. But ever since shows like AI made its celebrity jurors part of the entertainment with their pithy, subjective and idiosyncratic comments, the situation has deteriorated.
These days, you simply aren’t sure if jurors’ verdicts can be relied upon to spot the rare authentic talent who deserves to become a star, or are being colorfully expressed to further the juror’s own career and reputation for being pithily quotable and controversial.
On the local talent tilt front, the situation has deteriorated even further, because some so-called jurors are obviously chosen, not for their discernment, but for their face, name, or “shock” value. So, is it any wonder if they behave accordingly?
It really is quite galling to see some “actors” and “singers” who are notorious for being dull or downright lousy performers sassily passing judgment on poor contestants who are better actors and singers than they are.
And yet, the “celebrity” jurors do so with impunity, because they were chosen by production people who apparently have a low regard for both contestants and viewers.
Well, if they treat us with such lack of respect, we certainly can’t be blamed for disrespecting them in turn.
Of course, the most productive form of disrespect we could engage in would be to stop viewing their shows, in the hope that poor ratings will eventually knock some sense into their heads.
In some tacky and juror-compromised talent tilts, the celebrity judges even come up with little performances of their own—to their abject embarrassment (if they are aware enough to be embarrassed).
The saddest shows of all are the ones that misguidedly give viewers the “power” to vote unpopular or “non-kwela” jurors out. Whatever has possessed these so-called celebrity judges to agree to being humiliated in this insulting way? Well, since they think so little of themselves, they deserved to be treated shabbily.
In the entire history of judging, jurors have never been voted out. But trust us in our quirky little corner of the entertainment universe to have such low regard for standards, that we have come up with this bizarre wrinkle in the already crumpled fabric of local show biz.
How to un-crumple this sad scenario? Judges of talent tilts should be chosen for their expertise and objectivity, period, so that the right and most deserving talents are chosen.
Jurors shouldn’t be required to provide the entertainment, that’s the contestant’s job.
And judges should never, ever agree to be voted out. That’s their function, power and responsibility.
That’s the bottom line.
