Reality television is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. Obviously, reality television is an obsession for others too otherwise producers wouldn’t keep popping out new shows and new seasons of these freakin’ addictions. So, have you ever wondered what it is REALLY like on the stage and behind-the-scenes of a hit reality show? “The Bachelor”, perhaps? Or maybe, just maybe…“American Idol”? Well, I know someone who has been lucky enough to do JUST THAT! And now…he’s telling all.
R. Smith, the author of “Stage 46: The Reality Of Reality Television”, conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with reality show employees and contestants to produce his novel. And now…you, my friends are getting the chance to win yourself a copy. I have TWO copies for this particular swag snag giveaway.
All you need to do is comment with your FAVORITE reality television show. It’s as easy as that. Two winners will be chosen randomly and announced on Friday! Good Luck!
Click after the jump to read a fabulous excerpt from Stage 46: The Reality Of Reality Television.
An excerpt from Stage 46:
During this first weekend in town and in between the photo shoots and rehearsals, the contestants signed their lives away. They gave up all their rights for performances and music for the duration of the show and for several months, even years, after the show ended. While signing the contracts, they were promised two full days off a week, usually the day after the show and one day on the weekend. The other weekend day would be spent in a recording studio or shooting cheesy music videos for one of the show’s several sponsors. This agreement of two days off did not last long, as the parent company pimped the contestants out every way they could: from ice cream to lip gloss to board games and video games. Each time another deal came through, the contestants were required to do a photo shoot so they would have fresh photos and videos to go along with the products and help with the marketing.
After two weeks into the live shows, the only time off the contestants had was at night, when they slept. The contestants were a little disappointed to learn that they would be earning considerably less per week than they all had originally thought. One would think that the contestants would be paid very well, especially since they were bringing in millions of dollars a week for the parent company. This was hardly the case: they were paid the bare minimum each week for their performances. I am sure it was more than any of them made on a weekly basis before they started the show, but they could have been paid a lot more. In my opinion, they deserved more, as did everyone else involved with the show, including myself.
The songs the contestants sang each week came from a preapproved list, and the singers each had the opportunity to pick the song they wanted. Once they picked the song, they rehearsed for a day, singing the song that they chose, then Andy and James would have the opportunity to listen to each contestant perform their song. If they did not like the way the singers performed the song, they were forced to change it, even if the contestant did not like or wasn’t familiar with any of the other songs that were on the weekly preapproved list.
This was very unfortunate; some of the contestants were critiqued by the judges harshly over the way they sang or because of their song choice, when in all actuality Andy and James forced them to sing the songs that they did.To me this was always odd. I had my suspicions even before I started working on the show that people on the inside might have a hand in crowning the winner. Nothing confirmed my suspicions more than something that happened one day during rehearsals, which are closed-door. Only a limited number of people are allowed onto the soundstage: the rehearsals were done with contestant stand-ins, not the true contestants.
This was always off-limits to me, but in the middle of season I was given an urgent message to be delivered to a staff member who just happened to be sitting in on the rehearsals. So I made my way downstairs and over to the door that led to the soundstage where a security guard was standing. After reading the message, he opened the door and let me enter.
Now enter this contest and win yourself a copy, bitches! xoxo
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