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"In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." So said the
pop artist Andy Warhol in the 1960s, long before the first
airing of "Survivor." Now 40 years later, it's more like 15
episodes, as long as you can sing, dance or pout your lips on the
catwalk.
Since the dawn of the boob tube, TV talent shows have entertained and
inspired American audiences, zooming in on undiscovered performers from
across the country and, nowadays, around the globe. But these shows aren't
just generic talent searches: The competition is its own entertainment.
The prize is fame, fortune and constant snapshots by tabloid reporters.
Talent shows are a long-standing tradition, demonstrating how life can
change in a few heart-racing weeks. One day you're selling Kirby vacuums
in Texas, and a year later you're reaping the rewards of a double-platinum
album (at least that's how it went for Kelly Clarkson).
Here, in brief, is a history of the talent show, from the earliest
talent -mills to today's most
popular winners:
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"The Original Amateur Hour"
(1948)
"Round and round she goes, and where she
stops, nobody knows!" With these words, and the spinning of a large
wheel, the TV talent show was born. Almost the instant that
television was invented, "Amateur Hour" debuted, showcasing jazz
singers, tap-dancers, jugglers, comedians, essentially anyone with a
showman's gift and a big dream. The wheel determined the random
ordering of performers (those were the days!), and from the lineup
came famed performers such as Gladys Knight, Pat Boone and, from its days on radio,
Frankie
Sinatra.
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"The Gong Show" (1976)
Chuck Barris is among the
weirder characters in TV history: Nervous and alcoholic, Barris
would jump around the "Gong Show" stage, clapping his hands,
pointing at the camera and banging that gong (signifying that bad
performers should stop their act and go home). "The Gong Show" was
like a depository for "American Idol" dropouts:
ukulele players, acrobats, corny comedians, Gene Gene the Dancing
Machine and hundreds of others. In the first season, performers with
the highest score won precisely $516.32. This game show didn't
feature much talent, but Barris was -- and still is -- a hoot to
watch. (And, according to his autobiography, when Barris wasn't
on-set, he was busy assassinating dignitaries for the CIA. Now
that's talent.)
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"Star Search" (1983)
Perhaps the
highlight of Ed McMahon's career,
"Star Search" will likely tell future generations more about the
1980s than any other televised document. Partitioned into talent
categories (vocalist, young performer, fashion models, comedy),
"Star Search" shone a spotlight on anybody with a lust for stage
time. At the height of the Reagan administration, "Star Search"
seemed to legitimize the American dream: With a little hard work and
the ability to belt "Day by Day" for a national audience, anybody
could get a $100,000 prize and a record
contract.
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"American Idol"
(2002)
It's hard to believe, in our Idolatrous
world, that anyone doubted the success of "American Idol,"
Hollywood's translation of Britain's "Pop Idol" TV series. But
"Idol" was rejected by virtually every other network before FOX
picked up the show, and the rest is history. Millions of Americans
tune in, vote for their favorite singer and loot music stores in a
primal hunt for the latest Clay Aiken album. And the sun never sets
on the "Idol" empire. There's "Canadian Idol," "Australian Idol,"
"New Zealand Idol" -- a series, in fact, for nearly every
English-speaking country -- plus "Philippine Idol," "Latin American
Idol" and the clunkier "Deutschland Sucht den SuperStar" ("Germany
Seeks a Super Star").
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