# Judges didn't expect much of contestant, but contestant wowed - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330 "2017-03-16T19:39:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/1 "2017-03-16T19:39:55Z")
After Susan Boyle, Paul Potts and the like, why is it that judges still seem to produce this narrative of “We didn’t expect much from contestant-who-looked-ordinary-and-unremarkable-but-he-or-she-wowed-us?” Shouldn’t it be expected, or at least given the benefit of the doubt, that even when a plain looking or “ordinary” person steps on stage, they might have some “wow” talent that is the reason they are on the show to begin with? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/2 "2017-03-16T19:46:53Z")
Because it makes a better story and therefore makes for better television. Also, should this thread be here? or in CS? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/3 "2017-03-16T20:10:07Z")
I’d say that (and it’s true for me as well) the judges expect that if someone had been phenomenally talented, they’d have been discovered already. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/4 "2017-03-16T20:22:46Z")
Don’t forget, someone listened to William Hung sing and decided to let him appear on live TV.😕 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/5 "2017-03-16T20:42:23Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Don’t forget, someone listened to William Hung sing and decided to let him appear on live TV.😕 That’s because part of the show is showing the really bad people don’t seem to know they are bad, for humor purposes. That he was able to take that and make a name for himself and get a bit of money was his real talent, I think. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/6 "2017-03-16T21:15:39Z")
They keep acting like they’re wowed and blindsided because they find their audiences like that narrative. Even after it has become a cliché, some of the public (enough to matter, it seems) want to see that. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/7 "2017-03-16T21:43:14Z")
Moving to CS. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/8 "2017-03-16T23:57:37Z")
To get you to watch the YouTube clip and get their advertisement views up. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/9 "2017-03-17T03:01:02Z")
It’s true - [this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaK_FgrIlYY) always makes me cry… ---
**Author:** ![friendlessboob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@friendlessboob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friendlessboob)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/10 "2017-03-17T20:55:44Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > After Susan Boyle, Paul Potts and the like, why is it that judges still seem to produce this narrative of “We didn’t expect much from contestant-who-looked-ordinary-and-unremarkable-but-he-or-she-wowed-us?” Shouldn’t it be expected, or at least given the benefit of the doubt, that even when a plain looking or “ordinary” person steps on stage, they might have some “wow” talent that is the reason they are on the show to begin with? I have to be honest, the first one of these clips i saw years ago, i was like “wow! plumber can sing opera, how beautiful and inspiring” and then later was like “oh, they make them look like slobs and play up the contrast and actually he has done opera semi professionally” we all want to root for an underdog, and the contrast between the person as they are portrayed and the talent is compelling, its just appealing to human nature, even though its all a facade. Same reason anal in porn is super clean and easy and everyone is into it. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/11 "2017-03-17T23:27:56Z")
Don’t forget that you, the viewer, get to see ALL the good ones and some of the mediocre ones and a few of the bad ones. The judges get to see a lot more mediocre and bad ones than you do. How many frumpy housewives did they see before Susan Boyle showed up? Also, it makes for a better story. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/12 "2017-03-18T01:53:28Z")
Reality shows are not real. The dialog is not written in advance, but that just means the producers and editors work like dogs after the fact to take the material they have and produce a compelling narrative. The people behind Celebrity Apprentice had their work cut out for them. “We’d often be shocked at whomever Trump chose to fire,” Braun explained. “Our first priority on every episode like that was to reverse-engineer the show to make it look like his judgment had some basis in reality. Sometimes it would be very hard to do, because the person he chose did nothing. We had to figure out how to edit the show to make it work, to show the people he chose to fire as looking bad — even if they had done a great job.” [http://cinemontage.org/2016/10/editing-trump-reality-tv-star-who-would-be-president/](http://cinemontage.org/2016/10/editing-trump-reality-tv-star-who-would-be-president/) ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/13 "2017-03-18T02:31:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s because part of the show is showing the really bad people don’t seem to know they are bad, for humor purposes. > > That he was able to take that and make a name for himself and get a bit of money was his real talent, I think. Not to be crass, but, I bet he probably got laid too. That’s why he was there. He wanted to be cool to attract women. Men make fools of themselves all of the time in a grand effort to get laid. And I bet it worked! ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judges-didnt-expect-much-of-contestant-but-contestant-wowed-why/782330/14 "2017-03-18T02:38:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > That’s because part of the show is showing the really bad people don’t seem to know they are bad, for humor purposes. Yes & the judges most likely don’t know in advance which ones are on the show because they’re good & which ones are on the show because they’re humor-fodder. What the producers know about a contestant and their talents doesn’t necessarily equal what the judges know. Also, some shows do more screening than others. Some have a few ringers thrown in from both sides of the spectrum, but, aside from those, whether you get your shot comes down to what time you get in line. Others have it all meticulously planned out.