How judges of talent hunt reality TV shows should behave

after watching a lot shark tank india (Now streaming on SonyLIV) Over the past few weeks, I’ve come to several conclusions. For one, I’m pretty sure none of the judges understand the first thing about the metaverse or cryptocurrency, two things they’re exceptionally fond of talking about (they’re the ones with the pals talking about these things). give funds to anyone).

For another, I’m pretty sure I once saw Ashneer Grover – the most aggressive of all the judges – yelling at a parking attendant in Saket (a neighborhood in south Delhi); In retrospect, the most on-brand introduction for the co-founder of the currently troubled BharatPe. It’s cruel eyes, the same brand of unimaginable cruelty that drips off his tongue and onto our screens when he uses words like insulting people” dogala(Two-faced, literally, in Hindi).

Grover, then, is Simon Cowell shark tank india, Cowell famously rejected a lot of contestants during the 2000s. American Idol, This set a trend in reality TV where judges would insult contestants for laughs – sometimes, this would include pathos, but mostly it would be like a stand-up comedian ‘roasting’ a colleague on stage. Is. Some of Cowell’s most famous putdowns include, “If you lived 2,000 years ago and sang like that, I think they would have rocked you”; “I’m tempted to ask if you sang the night your wife left you”; and “You looked like three cats were being dragged on the motorway”. On one downright distasteful occasion, he said to a young woman, “I mean I’m not rude, but you look like the wife of the Incredible Hulk.”

Over time, Cowell’s network owners told him to cut it or, at least, reduce it. After Cowell’s departure, new judge Jennifer Lopez went to the other extreme. American Idol It became a show that was all about positive vibes and good-natured competition among light-hearted people. Like the previous trend, everyone followed it. VoiceMost notably, the beauty leaned in and ate American Idol’S rating. The judges on the show were a support structure, not the dreaded monolith tasked with separating the wheat from the straw.

plain bullying

Should a reality show judge aim to be Simon Cowell or Jennifer Lopez? It could be argued that all reality shows require a certain amount of emotionally high-stakes situations, a certain amount of friction to keep things interesting. And a relentlessly positive attitude, as Lopez preferred, may be incompatible with that vision. On the other hand, there’s no doubt that the legacy of Cowell and his imitators went too far in the reality TV genre, often turning into plain bullying. take mtv roadies, for example. The judges, Raghu Ram, Rajeev Laxman, and Rannvijay Singha (and several others down the years), have put together an impressive YouTube ‘bullying playlist’, if you will. I urge you to choose a clip, any clip really.

The purpose of most talent hunt reality TV is to audition for class mobility. Your performance on the show decides whether you clash with the social class of the judges. it was true Rock Star: Supernova all those years ago and it’s true in every way to today shark tank india, It’s a conspicuous performance from judges like Cowell—they want to underline the power gap while hanging untold carrots. You can behave badly too, the message goes, once you are one of us. But before that can happen, the flames await.

Aditya Mani Jha is a writer and journalist working on his first non-fiction book.

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