SMH
Efforts that are out of the ordinary
Thu May 19, 2011 8:11am
AUSTRALIA'S Got Talent, Channel Seven's good-natured reality contest, makes a habit of spotlighting surprise acts but last week the show's two nights provided a truly unexpected proposition: it out-rated MasterChef.
In television terms, that's a David and Goliath proposition - and a kid in a robe who was handy with a sling and rock would fit right in on the talent quest - but the numbers are clear. Talent had 1,752,000 viewers nationally to MasterChef's 1,440,000 on Tuesday night, with 1,509,000 topping 1,464,000 the following evening.
MasterChef will gradually reassert itself as a ratings behemoth but it's telling that Australia's Got Talent has bested it early on. Right now, Channel Ten's culinary extravaganza looks like an overly long journey, a forced march of a show that's become a massive brand that vigorously spruiks multiple brands and is hosted by various brands who judge contestants who are very keen to launch their own brands. Apparently, there is some is food involved, too.
No one is a brand on Australia's Got Talent. One of the pleasing things about the series, now in its fifth season, is that most of the entrants take their dismissal with equitable cheer, mainly because they've heard it all too often before. One of the notable elements of the now banished Australian Idol was that many young singing hopefuls, long genuflected to by friends and family, were plainly stung by the judging panel's straightforward criticism. They couldn't handle the painful truth.
But Australia's Got Talent - especially during these early, breezy episodes when the show tours the capital-city casting calls and no one uses the ''J'' word (that's journey) - is home to the long-term dabblers and artistic fringe dwellers. It's a world of vaudeville descendants and obsessive hobbyists. ''I love karaoke,'' one entrant admits, and that embrace of naff amateurism sums up the show.