It seems as if every reality-competition show pushes out “winners” that amount to…well, nothing, really. But what about the reality show losers? Usually, it seems as if the losers end up being more successful than the winners. Of course, this is not a breakthrough and has been common knowledge for a long time now, but let’s take a look at the winners & losers of reality television competition programs:
Flavor of Love:
Season one winners, Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander scored herself a spot on a few rather trashy magazines, and a role on the spin-off show “I Love Money.” Sure, magazines and photoshoots can be lucrative, but enough to sustain a career? Unless she wins “I Love Money,” then the answers is no. Season two winner Chandra Davis (Deelishis) became a “model” after the show, and currently has her own line of jeans. She’s made some cameos in music videos and magazines and has dated Busta Rhymes. Supposedly, she’s working on a “music career.” Let’s see where that goes. And the third season winner? Well, she hardly even won, but let’s just say she’s been pushed to the side-lines.
But what could a two-time loser amount to? Well, let’s just ask:
New York/Tiffani Pollard has made a name for herself just by being herself. Her previous shows “I Love New York 1 & 2” were among the most watched shows on VH1. The premiere was also VH1’s most watched episode ever (at that point). Her new series, “New York Goes to Hollywood” debuted with an impressive 1.7 million viewers (which is huge for a network such as VH1). I guess it’s true; New York is the HBIC of VH1.
America’s Next Top Model
Sure, the show is like crack, but can it actually make a reputable model? Well…no. At least not the winners. Adrianne Curry, cycle 1 winners, is now part of the “celebreality” world. But we all know the only “celebreality” person that matters to VH1 is New York. Cycle 2 winner Yoanna House hosts The N’s “Queen Bees,” which is doing fairly well in ratings despite her cardboard cut-out hosting. Cycle 3’s Eva Pigford has been doing well for herself, but is nowhere near being a household name. Cycle 4 gave us a quitter, and cycle 5 gave us someone that went searching for chap stick. Cycle 6 proved to be better; the winner, Danielle Evans, was the first to have her CoverGirl contract renewed and has been doing various catalogue work. But is that “high fashion?” Cycle 7’s Caridee English has been showing up at parties, and Cycle 8’s Jasleen has been right there, too. However, it can be said that Jasleen has made a lucrative business of herself: she gets paid to attend parties and is invited to “red carpet” premieres. But do tons of test-shots and hardly any other work make you a model? Cycle 9…well let’s not talk about that. Cycle 10 just ended, and all we have seen of winner Whitney Thompson are a few facebook photos and some more test shots. But what about:
Elyse Sewell from cycle 1. She has done incredibly well for coming in third-place. In fact, she’s probably done the most out of anyone from the first few cycles. She is fairly well-known in the Asian modeling market and has modeled for high-end companies such as Christian Dior, Vidal Sassoon, Jean Paul Gaultier and tons more.
Mollie Sue Gondi is the cycle six equivalent on Elyse Sewell. Both are doing incredibly well for people coming from a show that has produced…nothing, really.
Janice Dickinson. Sure she wasn’t a contestant, but after she “left”/was kicked out, she went on to her own show, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, which was a hit for the Oxygen network. Janice was always “popular,” but after appearing as a judge on Top Model, her popularity skyrocketed among the younger people that didn’t know/care about her before.
And let’s not forget Toccara Jones who recently landed a multiple-page spread in Italian Vogue, the highlight of any contestant from any Top Model franchise.
There are over 32 “Top Model” shows, ranging from Ghana to Kazakhstan, but have any of them produced world-wide (or even nation-wide) known models? Another loser, from Britain’s Next Top Model Abigail Clancy has done a good job of making a name for herself…but not by modeling.
American Idol
You all know the winners and losers of American Idol by now. What has season two winner Ruben Studderd been doing? Not much compared to loser Clay Aiken. Season three gave us the over-exposed Jennifer Hudson and the winner, Fantasia Barrino has been designated to Lifetime movies and crazy performances. Carrie Underwood is considered a successful winner in the US and other English-speaking countries…but she has not made much of an impact on foreign markets (especially not in the way Kelly Clarkson has). For this, I will not call her a “winner.”
By now, everyone knows Chris Daughtry as the guy on the radio that isn’t Nickelback but sounds like Nickelback. You also probably know him because your mother loves his music. Despite all of that, he is considered a success…as is Elliott Yamin, who, oddly enough, has performed well on the world charts.
David Cook is doing a good job with copying Daughtry (not just in style, but in the charts), but he isn’t the lone winner from that season. Runner-up David Archuleta is also making an impact with his single “Crush.”
Survivor
This show has given us a lot of annoying people, but very few are still popular. Season one winner Richard Hatch was popular for about 5 minutes, as were the rest of the cast. But what about:
Elisabeth Hasslebeck. Long before she became the daytime poster-girl for the republican party, she was a loser from Survivor.
Colby Donaldson made an acting career after losing the second season. Perhaps no one care about him anymore (other than my mother), but he did make a name for himself shortly afterwards.
J.P. Calderon lost Survivor, but came back into “popular culture” after Janice Dickinson picked him and after he came out.
Rob & Amber became the super-couple that no one wanted to care about. For some reason, CBS insisted that we should care about them, so they were cast on The Amazing Race not once, but twice. But where are they now? No one knows. Nor do they care.
The Amazing Race
This show didn’t really give us anyone, except:
Reichen Lehmkuhl only became popular after appearing on “The Amazing Race,” and only because popular due to his looks. The height of his popularity came during his relationship with Lance Bass. But does anyone care about him now? Not really.
Dancing With the Stars
This show has brought about the resurgence of many careers. The two-time winning dancer, Julianne Hough is now focusing on a music career. But will anyone care? It’s up to time to tell.
Mario Lopez experiences a resurgence of the dimple-craze after losing to Emmitt Smith. Now he can be seen (shirtless) everywhere you turn.
Heather Mills became more popular than ever in the US. She continued the popularity with her famous divorce battle. Would anyone care if she hadn’t been on DWtS? Probably, but this just added more fuel to the fire.
The Hills
No, the Hills is not a competition show, nor is it (probably) a reality show, but the supporting cast has become even more popular than that “part Latina” firecracker, Lauren Conrad.
Heidi & Spencer seem to be all that anyone cares about these days. Be it from their crazy wedding rumors to their crazy music videos to Spencer’s creepy beard, it’s undeniable that America loves to hate (and just plain hates) this couple. They’re everywhere these days, and they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
Project Runway
Project Runway seems to be the only legit show. Both the winners and losers have made names for themselves in the fashion world. The most recent winner, Christian Siriano was full of catch-phrases that caught on like fire. Now, he’s selling his clothing and himself. But the true winner of Project Runway isn’t even a contestant, it’s none other than
Tim Gunn. Everyone loves Tim Gunn. He’s almost as famous as Heidi Klum now, and he doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon (stopping his brand of the Tim Gunn lifestyle, that is. Who know if he’ll continue Project Runway or not).
The Apprentice
The Apprentice gave us an obnoxious catch phrase and Carolyn Kepcher. Later, it gaves us Ivanaka’s boobs. The winners…who knows what they’re doing now, but what about the number one loser of reality television:
Omarosa. What hasn’t she been up to? She refuses to let us forget her, and, I can’t help it, but I have to respect a girl that works her way to the top (even though the top, in this case, if the trashiest bottom you can get). She’s crazy and she’s a bitch, but we love watching her.
Making The Band
Diddy, Puff Daddy, whatever he goes by, “knows music,” and the music business…but then explain to me why I hear the name “Da Band,” and think “what the hell is that?” Or how about O-Town? And Day26? Donnie Klang, anyone? Danity Kane seems to be the only winner here.
However, there are always exceptions for these rules, and these winners that won are truly winners:
Ksenia Kahnovich from the Russian Top Model show is (along with Alice Burdeu) the reigning champs from the Top Model franchise. Ksenia has worked for Versace, Louis Vitton, Christian Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, and the list goes on.
Danity Kane. Perhaps they are not well-marketed, but their single “Damaged,” became one of the songs of the year so far. Their albums have done consistently well, and they’re well known to people that haven’t watched Making The Band.
Kelly Clarkson from American Idol season one. We all know who she is by now. Her only American Idol competition is Carrie Underwood. But Carrie is not world-wide known yet. So, Kelly, you get the upper-hand in this battle.
Leona Lewis from “The X Factor.” I applaud her music producers and the people working towards making her a star, because they have done an amazing job. With only one hit song in the US (as of now), she’s already a house-hold name. And performing at the Olympics? Well that’s just great for her. But time will tell; perhaps she may only be a two-hit wonder in the US. People are already trashing her and comparing her to Mariah. That is one comparison that is difficult, if not impossible, to live up to.
Dr. Will Kirby from the US version of Big Brother has made a successful career on reality tv as part of E!’s Dr. 90210.
Kathy Griffin…well, she’s not technically a “realty star,” but she did win The Celebrity Mole, and after that, her popularity seemed to increase radically. After that, her hit show “My Life on the D-List” has won Kathy and Emmy Award, and has won Bravo some strong ratings.
Trista and Ryan. It’s undeniable that, at one point, America was apparently crazy about this couple (even though I never came across one person that actually cared about them). Their wedding special was huge in the ratings, and their popularity seemed to be higher than ever…until Dancing With the Stars, when Trista learned that apparently America had forgotten her and voted her out first.
The God Warrior from Trading Spouses. Who could forget her Gargoyles tirade? The now infamous “gargoyles! It’s dark-sided!” lines will be in popular culture for a while and don’t show signs of stopping. Marguerite Perrin did a good job of continuing her 15 minutes after the show ended, but now no one really cares about her. But later, her repeat appearance on Trading Spouses (the second time) attracted moderate viewers. It seemed, even after the death of her daughter, that no one cares about this God Warrior anymore. But still, her 15 minutes were good enough to grant her a spot on the winning winners list.
Girls Aloud. I’m hesitant to put them on this “winners” list. They are winners in their own right, and have become popular…in the UK and bordering areas. But does anyone really know of them elsewhere? Perhaps, but they aren’t making any impression on foreign charts.
Posts
