Oh, I agree that the ones that get to the final few stages
can sing. But only a certain type of person goes on that program, and it's those who have a greater desire to be famous than they do a great singer. And, like you say, any individuality they might have had is mangled out of them to become 'chart stars' who will inevitably sink without a trace after their first album has been released, cynically in time for the Christmas market.
(berk, Thu 28 Oct 2010, 22:51, 1 reply, 15 years ago)

Again, a good point
There are so many wannabes that they are expendable and their handlers can exploit them cynically, as you put it. It's almost analogous with factory farming - milk 'em to death, wring their necks and bring on the next batch.

Whether there were queues round the block to audition for vaudeville acts is unknown to us. I suspect there were wannabes then, but not with the same assumption that they were indelibly destined for superstardom.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 28 Oct 2010, 23:04, Reply)