You can probably name the amount of talent show competition winners you can remember on one hand. So few of them go on to be memorable, influential, or famous. A past competitor of American Idol weighs in on just why so few of the competition winners, if any, end up being superstars.
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Of course, there are always a few that will stick around. Look at Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry for example. However, these two have something in common, as do most of the remembered competition superstars. They were from the early days of singing shows. Since then, there has been a serious decline in stickability.
Even looking at the newer shows like The Voice, judged and coached by massive names, nobody with any star power ever emerges. They get chewed up through the competition mill, spat out the other side with a pocket full of dollars and a record deal, and then fade back into obscurity. There's a good reason for this.
Competition Won't Produce Superstars
Speaking on the Zach Sang podcast, American Idol alum Clay Aiken, waded in with why the competition format just doesn't produce superstars. "I think that has a lot to do with who produces the show and who owns it... When we were on the show, the show was owned by and produced by 19 Entertainment, which was our record label and our management company also. So they were also producing the show... The people who came off the show would then become artists on their record label and for their management company, which meant that the show had a vested interest in making sure that those artists became career artists."
Now, after most of American Idol was sold off, the studios no longer have a vested interest in their competition winners' success as superstars. Once they have served their purpose on the screen, there is little value left. Like flavorless gum, they're spit out and stomped into the curb of the industry.
Because once they are off the screen the TV shows make no more cash from them, they don't care anymore. "The network had really no vested interest in whether the artists became big stars or not," he says. "The network needed a good show that rated well, that now got shared well on social media. And if the artist did well? Who cares. Because they didn't have a stake in them afterward."
The only profit to be made from the competition is on screen, that's when they need them to be superstars. After that, they're just another financial responsibility. It's easier to move on and focus on the next show. The competitors are used up, and thrown out, left to fend for themselves.
