The public has been fascinated with reality-based TV talents ever since things kicked off in the 1940s with shows such as Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. To sit in your living room and take a look into the private persona of individuals that could fail miserably or become the next heralded champion, is the ultimate voyeuristic indulgence, and so far, it hasn’t slowed down.
But it took New Zealand producer Jonathan Dowling to reignite things in the late 1990s with the re-focused music-based show called Popstars. Popstars placed singing competitions back into the mainstay…