Are Original Song Performances the Key to Winning Talent Shows?
ABC/Eric McCandless Reading Time: 3 minutes
Ever since talent shows have been around, people have wanted to know how to get their one-way ticket to stardom. Some may think it’s purely based off of how good they are at their talent, but could something entirely different win the competition for them?
There’s always an ongoing debate between what kind of auditions do the best in the long run. Many people think shows like America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent are too heavily based on the stories of their contestants. We’ve seen it in the past and I’m sure we’ll see it again in the future. Voting audiences love to see performances that are personal to the contestants.
Nightbirde Becomes an Immediate AGT Frontrunner After Original Song
In the past year we’ve seen this characteristic in the performances of a few big names. To begin, Nightbirde took to the stage on America’s Got Talent, on the stage she told the judges that she has been dealing with cancer for the past few years. After talking about her mindset on the situation she sang her original song, “It’s okay.” Simon Cowell was so impressed with her performance that he gave her his golden buzzer.
Nightbirde became an immediate frontrunner in the competition. With all of her fame from the series, she was a shoo in to win. Even though Nightbirde withdrew, many believe that she would have won the compeition. People loved Nightbirde not only for her story off stage, but for her ability to express herself on stage through her music. Even after Nightbirde left the competition, fans began to gravitate toward the contestant that put the most of their own story into their act. For the past two seasons, America has voted for poet Brandon Leake and magician Dustin Tavella. Both of these acts use their own life experiences to uplift audiences.
Chayce Beckham Wins American Idol After Numerous Original Songs Top iTunes Charts
America’s Got Talent isn’t the only show we’ve seen this occur on. During the last season of American Idol, fans quickly became obsessed with Apple Valley, California native Chayce Beckham. It was shared in his origin story that he was a recovering alcoholic, he grabs inspiration from his personal life and includes it in his music.
Later in the competition, Chayce began bringing his original songs to the Idol stage. His songs were so personal, yet so many people were able to connect with them. Chayce was already a fan favorite since the beginning of the series, but became so much bigger after premiering original songs. Many people predicted that he would win the series based off of his songs that topped the iTunes chart.
I think this has a lot to do with the fact that people want to see what kind of artists singers are going to be. It’s great to see singers step on stage and sing covers every week, but what will they do after the competition? Chayce’s original songs brought him above his competition because he showed the audience what they could expect for the future.
Chayce’s win was the first time in American Idol history that the winner’s single was written by the contestant. He’s gone on to have a huge career since winning and I think a lot of this has to do with the original songs.
One of the Most Memorable Original Songs in Got Talent Franchise
This duo didn’t win their season of Britain’s Got Talent, but can always be remembered for their original song audition. When people say original songs on talent shows, I immediately think of Bars and Melody. This duo auditioned for BGT during series 8 and is forever remembered for their original performance. This duo is so unique because they actually only ever gave original performances on BGT. They never were covering another artist.
Bars and Melody took to the BGT stage singing “Hopeful” an original song about bullying. Their song was so powerful that they gained Cowell’s golden buzzer. They didn’t need to win the show to go viral on YouTube, their audition currently has 239 million views and 2.4 million likes.
