Talent Shows

Posted by Troy

June 14, 2005

I attended the Bill Riley Talent Search when I went to Story City for Scandanavian Days to see the Pirate Comedy Show (arrrr) a week or so ago. I only stayed for part of the competition, but the part I did see really, really bothered me.

I have seen many talent competitions, both on TV, and in person at state fairs, etc. There are two things they all seem to have in common. 1) There are way too many tap/jazz dance routines and 2) the dance routines never win.

Don’t get me wrong, the girls are doing nothing wrong. But if I see one more tap competition with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” I think I will be sick. I simply don’t understand why dancers enter talent competitions. The winner is almost always a vocalist - and if not a singer, then someone playing an instrument.

My advice: any young ladies (and parents) thinking of performing in a talent search should think twice about dance routines… IF they are performing to win. If they are performing just for the sake of performing, who can argue with that? I for one saw way too many dance performances in one competition. 8 out of 10 performances is a bit much.

Acting