Top Five The Voice/Talent Show Cliches

With The Voice winning viewers and critics over and Jesus Christ Superstar – the next big talent show – on its way to our screens soon, what better time to look at the top five cliches that you expect to see?

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1. The singer with the late relative who begged them to take part
Cue music, teary shots as a runner grills the contestant on what this person meant to them. Why? We all love a sob story and sob stories = votes and votes = a recording contract or a part in a West End musical.

2. The Cocky Contestant
We don’t like confident or cocky here, do we? So you set the person up – “What’s your chances of winining?” Anyone who replies: “I’ll walk it” is then set up as the villian. See Lauren Samuels and Samantha Barks as earlier examples.

3. The second chance at fame
There’s always one who had it all then lost it all. We the viewers engage with them as there is a second shot in sight. See Kavanagh – Grease is the Word. They rarely win, though.

4. The surprise bottom two
Four weeks in – the viewing figures are dipping, the tweets aren’t flowing. So – you give a hot fave a duff song and watch them flounder. Make it a song that’s too old for them or give them Adele. Then watch and weep as they beg to stay. See Steph in Over the Rainbow.

5. The winner may not take it all
Winning doesn’t always lead to the brightest career as the spotlight is sometimes too much to bear. Runner up or 3rd or 4th can sometimes mean you have a fantastic shot – see Sam Barks or Adam Lambert on American Idol as proof.

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Enjoy The Voice – but now that the chairs are spun round and the judges are looking a them, does anyone get the sneaking suspicion that image is now, indeed everything? What will happen to the format of JCS as a result of this – will Andrew be hitting a button to spin round and utter the lines – “You could be Jesus!” God help us!