# Stepping Back to the Future - Superstars as Unknowns on Reality TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016 "2008-03-28T04:16:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/1 "2008-03-28T04:16:52Z")
Sorry the thread title is ambiguous, but I couldn’t fit what I wanted to say in it 😉 I was reading an article the other day, and the author mentioned how _interesting_ it would be to see an unknown Little Richard competing on modern day American Idol. Which, of course, spawned this thread. What famous person do you think would be fascinating to watch rise through the ranks of American Idol, America’s Next Top Model, Survivor, Big Brother, The Lot, etc? For you people outside the states, substitute shows where needs be. Personally, I’d get a kick out of seeing an unknown Michael Jackson on American Idol. Or seeing him on Big Brother, for that matter 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/2 "2008-03-28T04:18:24Z")
Charles Manson, on anything. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/3 "2008-03-28T04:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=Kuboydal] Charles Manson, on anything. [/QUOTE] LOL! I didn’t even think of people like that. Now I have visions of Genghis Khan stabbing Simon Cowell to death. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/4 "2008-03-28T11:59:43Z")
I’m not sure the “American Idol” model is all that successful at churning out top musical stars, and I suspect that many if not most of the “self made” stars would not fare well. In Idol’s history, we have a mixed bag – of the winners, only Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood can be said to have sustained star appeal. What’s the last Ruben Studdard or Taylor Hicks song you heard on the radio? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/5 "2008-03-28T14:58:53Z")
_A Wop-bop-a-loo-mop alop-bam-movintoCafeSociety_… ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/6 "2008-03-28T16:46:06Z")
I’m pretty sure Aretha Franklin would still have destroyed everyone on American Idol. Sammy Davis Jr, however, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/7 "2008-03-28T16:53:46Z")
How do you think Bill Gates would have done on _The Apprentice_? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/8 "2008-03-28T16:53:57Z")
Bob Dylan would have _bombed_, effing big time. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stepping-back-to-the-future-superstars-as-unknowns-on-reality-tv/443016/9 "2008-03-28T17:52:16Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] How do you think Bill Gates would have done on _The Apprentice_? [/QUOTE] I was thinking Alexander the Great on _The Apprentice_ – against Gates. Also the horribly-tin-eared and untalented [Florence Foster Jenkins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Foster_Jenkins) on either _American Idol_ or _The Gong Show_. You choose.