Difference between mere ability and real talent

There are so many “talent” competitions on TV these days— imported shows like “American Idol,” “The X Factor,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and, locally, “Pilipinas Got Talent,” “Talentadong Pinoy,” “Showtime,” “Protégé” and the new “Pinoy Big Brother.”

And yet, few genuine standouts have been discovered, real talents whose careers have flourished beyond the short-term appeal of their novelty.

Locally and internationally, hundreds of thousands of “talents” audition for all of the shows designed to discover the “stars of tomorrow.” But, for all of those aspirants, except for a precious few, “tomorrow” never comes.

What’s the problem? In a great number of cases, the culprit is a basic misunderstanding of what constitutes “talent.”

Justification

For many people, the mere desire to sing, dance or otherwise entertain an audience, no matter how big or small, is enough justification for them to perform, and to join talent competitions.

If they do badly during auditions, the fault isn’t theirs, but the audition masters’. Either they’re incompetent, biased in favor of other bets, or have been paid off by the talents they do select!

For their own self-illumination, people should realize that most people aren’t gifted enough to be taken seriously as performers. It’s okay to “croak” in front of a family or neighborhood audience, but a real contest would never encourage or tolerate such enthusiastic mediocrity.

So, before a “talent” lines up to audition, he and his “fans” should first realistically evaluate his potential for real performance. If they aren’t absolutely astounded by his amazingly superior talent, they should leave the competing to the few hopefuls who really have what it takes to spectacularly shine as professional performers.

Another basic problem that must be addressed and resolved is the cluelessness or downright ignorance of not a few people about the inherent difference between “ability” and “talent.”

Gimmickry

Aided and abetted by many so-called “talent” searches on TV through the years, “talent” now means not just the ability to sing, dance, act and play musical instruments really well, but also to chew glass shards and razor blades, pull a trailer truck with one’s braided hair, husk a coconut with one’s teeth, put a trained dog through its paces, lip-sync to a recorded song, etc.

Alas, this isn’t talent, but mere ability or novelty or bizarre gimmickry. So, it can be featured at a perya, but not in a talent tilt! Get a grip, have a sense of context, comparative value and worth, and never the twain should meet—and compete.

All else is shallow gullibility, impressionability and lack of genuine appreciation of what real art is, what it requires, and the much greater power that it has than the momentary, knee-jerk kick of mere ability.