Summer is the season for reality television, but there are some lessons to be learned from these programs’ judges. Judges are the ones who are trying to help contestants improve themselves, though they may not always present constructive criticism in the most polite manner. 
Aside from lessons, I have always wondered if casting many different people is the way television executives gather an audience. The more people shown on a reality show, the more family members will most likely watch it, right?
There are a couple of shows that draw hordes of contestants, including “America’s Got Talent,” a questionable assumption for many of the acts featured on the show. Making this show even more questionable is host Jerry Springer who would not be my first choice for a respectable reality show host. But I have to admit, there are some people, desperate for recognition, who go on this show and are incredibly talented. There was the cutest little girl who yodeled one year and a 4-year-old girl singing this year. No, the yodeler didn’t win, but she was fabulous.  There is also the “Hoff factor” to take into consideration, David Hasselhoff, one of the judges, along with Piers Morgan and Sharon Osborne.
The show draws thousands of contestants at each venue. They conduct interviews with some of the contestants prior to them going on stage to give a little biography, then they go on stage and they are terrifyingly horrible. So horrible you can’t look away and all of a sudden, two hours of your life is gone and all you can see is Jerry Springer making those sad faces and shaking his head at the camera.
All contestants have a great deal of courage. I can’t imagine getting up on that stage and facing the judges and the audience, who can also be cruel. The worst are the kids who tear up on stage when they are criticized. It’s heartbreaking, even though I think the judges are trying to be easy on the kids because they are so young.  I often wonder if it is the parent’s dream their child be the money-maker of the family.
There are many more shows that contrast the mediocre with the fabulous, “Dancing with the Stars,” “American Idol” and “Last Comic Standing” all come to mind, mostly for the judges’ performances.
I think part of the draw is also the “good judge, bad judge” thing most shows have.  There is always one soft-hearted judge willing to give people a chance and one or more judges who bad-mouth performances. Sadly, the male judges (and no, I am not being sexist) are influenced more by attire than by actual talent sometimes.
The thing that keeps pulling people in to these shows is the heart and spirit people show in their performances. Some are truly entertaining and some are glorious in their failure.
Writing is the same way, certain subjects strike a chord and others just strike out. As a writer, I have been praised and insulted.  There have been columns about nothing that generated feedback and ones I thought could stimulate conversation that didn’t earn me a peep of feedback.
The thing with feedback and criticism is that it only makes you better at what you do. And if you truly love what you do, you want to improve and do your best all the time.
—Stephanie Grinnell