'It's about instan success, not hard work'

Talent shows in the form of singing, beauty and modeling contests have become increasingly popular recently, attracting big audiences with corporations lining up to be sponsors. The Jakarta Post ask some residents about their opinion of this phenomena.

Danang, 27, is an employee at an IT company on Jl. Cideng Barat, Central Jakarta. He lives at a rented house in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta:

I think these talent shows have a negative influence on our social values. More and more people are trying their luck, wanting the instant success gained from participating in such shows, rather than success gained through hard work and education.

This phenomenon is more obvious in talent shows for children as the parents usually push their kids to become celebrities, neglecting their education needs.

These shows often don't use valid systems to determine the quality of their winners. Even if each show has a panel of judges, the winners are decided by the spectators through a popular vote, using SMS messages and phone voting. There are times a person emerges as a winner because of his or her looks, instead of his or her talent.

Wita, 25, is on the administrative staff of a private company on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta. She lives with her family in Cilandak, South Jakarta:

The talent shows are good as they provide opportunities for anybody to take a shot at becoming a popular star.

Even losers can still 'win', like the former American Idol reject, who is now a star on his own terms because people actually like his bad singing and dance moves.

If the shows are professionally organized in screening their participants and selecting their final winners, then we will also benefit by having future singers, models, movie stars and the like, who are better prepared and qualified.

The only negative thing is that many of these programs are just jumping on a fad and the shows have become copycats of each other.

First it was the talent shows for cover magazine models, now it's the time of the American Idol-style contests. At some point soon people will get bored of them.

-- The Jakarta Post