Reality Shows Worth Catching: Rockstar Supernova & The Ultimate Fighter
It’s probably the lack of writers that I hate the most! I think maybe I take it as a personal insult that the television producers ignore the plethora of great writers out there in favor of well-edited “reality.”
That said, there are two reality shows I find myself drawn to and schedule myself to be able to see, Rockstar Supernova and The Ultimate Fighter. Rockstar Supernova has the international voting element, another factor I hate about reality shows. The Ultimate Fighter doesn’t.
The Ultimate Fighter is about to enter its fourth season and is the brain-child of Ultimate Fighting Championships President Dana White. Dana is a marketing genius and the show has no doubt made legions of new UFC fans, me among them. I watched parts of the first season reluctantly because my husband wanted to watch it. After a few weeks, I was hooked.
Dana continues to change up the format, eliminating things that didn’t attract the interest of viewers, like the weekly team competitions. In the first two season the competitions decided which coach got to make the fight match that week. Last season, the competitions were eliminated and I must say, I didn’t miss them.
Unfortunately, they were replaced with more “life in the house” footage that could have been from any reality program and I hope that will be gone in season four.
But the best thing about The Ultimate Fighter is that it is direct competition that leads to elimination. It’s never about popularity. It’s about who can fight better in the octagon, and for me, that makes the show more real.
I also appreciate that Dana has never made any bones about the fact that this is a job for these guys and the best opportunity that they could have handed to them. He has figured out that money motivates people and has awarded cash to the early round winners, encouraging them to fight harder.
And, in perhaps the smartest move of all, he has, when it’s been appropriate, changed the rules for the betterment of the contestants. When the first season ended with two terrific fighters, he gave both the winner and the loser a contract.
If you like violent sports at all, The Ultimate Fighter is worth checking out.
It combines the best of collegiate wrestling, boxing and martial arts. Yes, the fights are bloody and brutal, but the dedication of the fighters is phenomenal to watch.
The other reality show I make plans to see, or record if I can’t be home, is Rockstar Supernova. I cannot compare this summer’s show to Rockstar INXS because I never saw last year’s show. Frankly, I didn’t care.
What appealed to me this year was the band. Gilby Clarke, Jason Newsted and Tommy Lee had to make an awesome band. There was no question. Though Tommy is the only one I have seen live to date, I hope that will change when Supernova tours next year. I am a fan of all three, having enjoyed their music in various forms from Guns ‘N Roses and Heart, to Metallica and of course, Motley Crue.
The format of the showâÂ?¦well, it could be better, mostly because I dislike the popularity contest voting bull that reality television is so fond of. The redeeming quality of this show is that the worldwide vote doesn’t have the final sayâÂ?¦the band does.
The basic way it works is that on the Tuesday show, this should be familiar to you American Idol fans, the contestants sing and the band gives its critique as does show host Dave Navarro. On Wednesday, the band has their favorite performer from the night before do an encore and then the bottom three based on the voting are announced.
Each of the bottom three gets to perform a “save my ass” song and then the band decides who to send home. This week, the results show also featured the first televised performance by the band, with one of the contestants, Dilana, singing the tune.
The new music from Supernova was everything I hoped it would be and I appreciated the band choosing one of the women to be first to play their music because so many people have claimed that a woman would not front this band.
The show is down to the final seven now and all of them are talented, but the reality is that only a couple of them are talented enough to play in front of this band. The remaining contestants are Dilana, Storm and Patrice, the women, and Toby, Magni, Lukas and Ryan for the men.
Patrice has a good voice and good stage presence, but has had trouble making the songs her own. In general, the worldwide audience doesn’t seem to like her, having voted her into the bottom three several times. My personal view is that she doesn’t seem to have the creativity it will take to hang with this crew. However, her performance of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” was terrific and I won’t be surprised to see her get her own recording deal.
Storm has been able to mix it up on stage and change the arrangement of songs to make them her own. This week, she got stuck with a crappy song selection. She ended up with Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”
To be honest, the song selection on this show ahs been my least favorite aspect of the show. The contestants are given a list of songs to choose from and generally, someone gets stuck with crap. Too often, songs have been too pop to appeal to the band and then the contestants have been chided for not bringing the rock. For four weeks straight, we got a nirvana song each week. We have seen Coldplay music, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper. While many of the songs are beautiful and great renditions, often they don’t seem to mesh with the band’s musical taste. This week, it was Storm who got stuck with it.
Despite that, Storm rocks and is one of four contestants easily capable of leading this band. Another is Dilana. From the first week, Dilana has been the obvious frontrunner. The first week, she mesmerized the crowd covering Nirvana’s “Lithium”. A week later, she surprised everyone by doing it again with Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.
The fact that she was the first contestant chosen to sing with the whole band lends more credence to the idea that she is the frontrunner. Critiques say her voice is limited in range. If so, she has the brains to stay within her range and like Storm, she has seemed in the web episodes to be a genuinely nice person.
Toby is the Australian hope and though attractive and a good singer is not what Supernova is looking for. He can perform well, but probably not well enough to lead the band.
Magni is an enigma. The first week, band members said he seemed like Las Vegas lounge act. Last week, Jason Newsted said Magni was setting the bar. Magni’s performances have been stellar, especially his acoustic version of “The Dolphin’s Cry”. His stage presence and voice make him a lead contender for the prize.
Lukas is often the other name mentioned as a frontrunner. He has a gravelly voice and punk rock feel that appeal to many. In the songwriting workshops, his work has consistently appealed to the band. On the other hand, Jason nested criticizes his performances regularly because he seems to close off his throat and strain his vocal chords. He’s my least favorite of the top four, but still likely a top contender.
Ryan has recently come into his own, finding the deep brooding voice that brings an awesome intensity to his performance. His performance of REM’s “Losing My Religion’ marked the turning point for Ryan. But many people took exception to last week’s performance of “Paint it Black.” I’m one of them. I hate the way he changed the arrangement. On the other hand, his performances have been improving and he could be the dark horse contender.
The music on Rockstar Supernova has been interesting and sometimes awesome. If you like the music Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke, and Jason Newsted have made before, the preview this week of Supernova’s music should leave you drooling for more.
