Singing Ability vs. Public Appeal

With the birth of talent shows around the world, normal people are given the chance to shine and show the world what they are made of and present their talent to the professionals.

Leading these shows in popularity is Simon Cowell’s X Factor in the UK. However, the show has started to bring much controversy to the audiences with the battle between singing ability and public appeal.

It started last year with the infamous twins; John and Edward now known as ‘Jedward’. As cute and likeable as they are, they were certainly not the most talented of the contestants. That didn’t stop them from flying through the competition week after week and seeing much more talented singer’s wave goodbye to their X Factor dreams.

Now with their ITV 2 show “Jedward: Let Loose” and their album “Planet Jedward”, they have stayed in the public eye just as much, if not, more than the actual winners of X Factor. Even I find myself smiling when I hear them sing, regardless of the fact that they can’t.

This leads to the question; what helps the contestants of these talent shows? How well they can sing? Or their likeability?

This year on the X Factor we see history repeating with Judge Louis Walsh’s act; Wagner. As entertaining and likeable as he is, his singing ability is just not up to scratch, especially in comparison to the high standards delivered by the other contestants.

So, again we are seeing causalities of fantastic singers being ripped of the chance of their dream record deal to make room for the jesters presented by Louis.

Many have questioned the authenticity of the vote declared on the show and allegations have been made that the vote is tampered with in order to keep acts such as Wagner and Jedward as they present controversy on the show which, of course, reels the viewers in.

However, if this is the case, when the offending acts leave the show, their success should come to an end. But, we can all agree that this is not the case in Jedward’s situation. They have stayed in the public eye, bringing joy and annoyance around the country. Could Wagner be the next “untalented” success?

All this in mind begs the question, what is more important for success on a talent show? Appeal or talent?

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