Can people really be this vain and stupid?

First off, let me get this out of the way…

I HATE REALITY TV (who doesn’t)

anyway, the WB network has on some reality show parody, it’s like that insipid American Idol dren, but this one is looking for the worst singers in America, however, the contestants think they’re looking for the best, they think they’re on an american idol clone

the problem is, all the “singers” (used in the loosest sense of the word) are so over-the-top BAD, that there’s no way they can’t realize that the entire thing is a joke, unless they’re stupid

every one of them is incredibly oblivious self-centered and self absorbed by their (total lack of) singing talent, this show has to be a joke on the viewer, there’s no way these morons can’t know that they suck, i think they’re all actors and it’ll be revealed that the entire thing was an attempt to get the “reality shows suck” crowd to watch a reality show, they have to be playing a trick on the audience

at least the good thing is that unlike most other reality crap, one episode is enough, there’s no reason to watch any more episodes

this has to be a trick on the audience, these have to be actors, no one can be that oblivious to their own lack of talent

I take it then, that you’ve never seen anything starring William Shatner?

[Ducks and runs like hell!]

–SSgtBaloo
[Sound from behind the barricade]: “Hee-hee-hee!”

Well, if it was legit (and I’m willing to bet there are at least a few thousand people in the U.S. who are sufficiently deluded into thinking their caterwauling is a display of ethereal talent), what happens if the contestants hear each other’s performances? A few of them are going to think: “Wow, these guys are all terrible. How did they get on this show in the first place?” and perhaps successfully add two and two.

I just remember seeing several American Idol audition tapes where the judges tell the people they suck and the people get upset and tell them they have no clue what they’re talking about.

Yes, people can be that self deluded.

Now I’m not saying the show isn’t rigged, but I can certainly beleive that they could find a shows worth of people who could be fooled.

I don’t think it’s rigged, but I haven’t seen it. I think from watching American Idol that there are plenty of bad singers who think they are good (go to any Karaoke night if you don’t believe me). However, while there is a car-wreck entertainment value to watching them, I don’t think it’s funny to tell them they are good. We don’t need any more William Hungs.

I haven’t seen the show, but I did work in the karaoke business for a time, so you may rest assured that there really are people w/o a trace of singing ability who believe themselves to be professional quality talents. I had a circuit of bars that I worked at on a rotating basis. At each bar, there were always the same people who would sing the same songs, badly I might add. Many of these delusional people had themselves convinced that the other patrons were showing up specifically to hear their performances! One fellow from a gay bar I worked would always sing Candle in the Wind. His reedy voice and total inability to carry a tune did not prevent him from believing that he had fans who waited all week to hear him do his signature song. Hell, one night when we were having trouble with the audio equipment he even threw a hissy fit and yelled “I can’t work under these conditions!”
So, to answer the OP, yes people can be that vain and stupid.

People also can go along with the gag and PRETEND to be that vain and stupid, because they get to be on national TV.

A son of a friend of mine, a very bright kid, was interviewed by Jay Leno in one of his street interviews. Leno asks obvious questions, gets stupid answers, and then makes fun of how dumb the people are. This kid knew the answers, but also knew that if he answered correctly, the videotape would never be seen. So he came up with a really stupid answer, and sure enough, he was on the Leno show! His parents, his friends, all knew he was putting on, and chuckled to see him on national TV. Leno, presumably, and most of the rest of the viewing audience, thought he was dumb as toast.

Another vote for “Yes.”

I’ve sat in on many, many auditions, and can tell you for a lot of people, it does not matter haw many times they are told they suck, if just one person (usually their mother) tells them they have real talent, they will keep comming back.

Just see the thread about Showbiz Mom and Dads, to see the type, I’m talking about.

I had four consecutive bosses and an ex-wife tell me in various ways that I was not talented enough to go into broadcasting. I got FIRED! I finally took their advice and got out of the business, but to this day everytime I put on one of my old tapes, I honestly believe “you know, I wasn’t all THAT bad.”

Kunilou…right on.

There was a couple of ‘arty’ things I did while younger and I honestly thought it was pretty good. I still have some laying around and I still think they have merit.

However, when several unrelated people who should be in-the-know tell you the same things you have to realize that they are right and you are wrong.

This society glorifies the ‘misunderstood genius who stuck to his guns until the world realized he was a great genius’. The ‘Every great genius fought against great adversity of mediocre minds…I’m suffering great adversity therefore I must be a great genius’ logic.

Anyone who has performed in an amateur choir or theater troupe knows the type.

Okay, sure, we get people who can’t really sing and can’t really act but join anyway for the sheer fun of it. They usually don’t mind when they don’t land lead roles (especially in their first season) and, over time, might develop into talented performers. Most, though, prefer to remain in the background, and would rather endure a root canal sans anesthesia than perform a solo.

But then there’s the ones who are CONVINCED that they are God’s Gift To The Stage. There are few creatures more unpleasant to have around, especially when your group is desperately short of competent people in the same voice range or of the right physical type. The fact that they have landed a role only because there was nobody else available to fill it does nothing to distract them from the belief that theirs is a formidable talent. It’s even worse when they have the almost obligatory fan-club-of-one that attends each rehearsal and performance to cheer them on. Said fan club may be a parent, boyfriend/girlfriend, or (God help you) a spouse. I remember one instance when the fan-club-of-one (a husband) tried to give his own notes after a rehearsal. In my old church choir, another fan-club-of-one (also a husband) set up his video camera in the front row to record each of his wife’s solo performances. The solos that he was probably the only one to enjoy, as the woman had the worst voice I’ve ever heard. But, for some reason, she was able to bully the choir director (who couldn’t stand her either) into keeping her in the group.

So, in answer to the question, are people really that vain and stupid, the answer is a resounding YES.

Yes, yes, oh-my-goodness yes. And personal delusions are not limited to stage talents either.
But I realized when I was reading the thread on the current colonial house (I’m too lazy to find it now, it was mostly a lot of the re-enactors complaining the producers were not using re-enactors) that the whole point of these shows is to find the most incompetent/lazy/greedy people they can, because they believe America is only watching to view the humiliation of others.

I saw some of the first episode of that. I have to believe that at least SOME of them will be able to detect what’s going on. However, if they’re smart about it, they’ll be able to find the right subset of people who suck and are very self-delusional.

I thought it was pretty funny when “Simon” told the girl (somewhat talented who they were kicking off) that what she did was disrespectful to Gladys Knight, and “quite frankly, disrespectful to the Pips.”

I was in an a cappella group for four years in college. For three of those years, I had to participate in the screening and auditioning process (the first year I was one of the ones auditioning). We had some amazingly bad singers come through. Honestly, it’s worse when they’re only half-bad. The worst cases of tone-deafness I dealt with didn’t even sound like singing, so it didn’t even register as music, just droning. When they’re almost on pitch, though, ARGH. It’s really painful. And yes, they really do think they’re doing well. It’s scary how bad someone can be and still think they’re good.

Our audition was five or six tests – warm-ups, a prepared solo, some sight-reading – but if they were noticeably bad, we’d skip from their prepared solo straight to the end, and ask them to tell us a joke. This way, they got the positive feedback of a roomful of judges laughing with them before they got the “we’re sorry” phone call.

An old friend of mine was, and is, the least musical person I know. For a living, he is a karaoke host. This requires some expanation…
We used to have musical afternoons at his house, where I would bring my guitar and a bunch of us would all sing harmony and make percussion, etc. Of all the participants, old friend was the least qualified. He had no concept of phrasing. He’d read the lyrics of a song and sing them in the most wrong way possible. His pitch wasn’t too bad, but the phrasing would make you retch! When asked to sing harmony, he’d start out OK, but then switch to the lead part, which led to “No, dammit! Pick a part and stay with it!!”
Then he got into karaoke, and took his lack of talent public. I went to a few gigs with him, and maybe because I don’t drink, I was unable to enjoy his presentations - I was mortified for him, but he also has a lack of shame. I moved away and after several years I went back to visit, and ended up at one of his gigs. Now, not only has he not improved as a singer, he’s affected a poncy vibrato effect that does not come from the natural vibration of the vocal cords, but the intentional wavering of pitch to sound like vibrato. And his phrasing and reading comprehension still sucks. He thinks he’s the greatest thing ever. Dude, you suck harder than the vacuum of outer space, and could not get past the auditions for singing anything for anyone! How he continues to get booked into bars is a mystery. Maybe after enough beer, it sounds like music.
So yeah, people can be, and are, that delusional about their talent. :rolleyes:

I haven’t seen this show yet, but there was a controversy a few weeks ago when it was revealed that, in order to get the audience to pretend the singers are actually good, they told the audience members that the singers were all terminally ill and the show was being done as a Make-A-Wish Foundation thing.

If the producers used thier name, I hope the real Make-A-Wish Foundation sues WB.

They didn’t.