I am going to start this new format with what seems to be a pretty easy improvement to the phenomenon Britain’s Got Talent. Remeber Susan Boyle from three weeks ago? This is the show where she shocked Simon Cowell and the other judges with her performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables. The show became controversial because many believed that Boyle was not particularly talented and was only popular because of the “Ugly Duckling” factor.
The controversy I wish to address has a little to do with Boyle. Essentially, Britain’s Got Talent drops an emmense amount of fame and pressure on people who had never experienced anything like it before the show. Some, like Paul Pott’s and last year’s champion, 14 year-old George Sampson, have handled the newfound popularity and scrutiny well. Boyle is an example of someone who has struggled in a terribly unfamiliar pressure-cooker.
In the last semi-final of the show, viewers witnessed how the scrutiny of millions and indefensibly cynical producing could combine with overly-ambitious parenting to break a child. Hollie Steel, all of ten, made a couple of mistakes while singing a Edelweiss from The Sound of Music, began to cry, and couldn’t go on. She pleaded desperately for another chance while the hosts, judge Amanda Holden, and her mother attempted to console her. After being rebuffed by the producers, Cowell stepped in and guaranteed Steel another shot, which she aced. However, she continued to cry throughout the rest of the show.
Steel recovered for the final, only to not make the top three. She walked right up to the brink, only to pull herself together at the last minute and give two excellent performances. However, the lesson of Hollie Steel should be that we do not wait for a kid to get shoved onto a stage by a selfish mom or dad, only to suffer humiliation and potential emotional damage as a result.
Other child performers have shown mixed results. This season, Callum Francis and Aidan Davis all gave excellent performances; Natalie Okri also performed well, only to outwardly suffer heartbreak after she was beat out by eventual winner Diversity. I loved Connie Talbot’s rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which would lead to a second place finish behind Potts in the show’s first season. In retrospect, though, Cowell’s apprehensiveness when Talbot walked out onto the audition stage was palpable and prescient. Cowell gave 12 year-old Shaheen Jafargholi another chance after an audition mistake; what if Cowell had simply said, “Next.” How would Jafargholi have felt? At 12, could he have coped maturely with the disappointment?
Cowell has expressed disdain for the parents who live vicariously through their children. When Katherine McPhee first performed, Cowell picked up right away that her mother was “possibly living her career through you.“ This pageant mentality is pervavise and puts children like Steel at risk.
Steel should be a cautionary tale, and this is an easy fix for next year’s “Britain’s Got Talent.” Set an age limit, probably 14, but maybe even 16 or 17. Also, before any children go on, screen the parents to see if they have their child’s best interests at heart. If the show continues to trot out child performers, hopefully the British public turns the channel to more “mature” programming.
Of course, despite Mrs. Steel’s claims that her daughter will be coming “back to normality,” little Hollie will soon begin touring with the other finalists. Hopefully, Hollie finds some normalcy soon.
