I must admit that one of my somewhat embarrassing indulgences is the show Top Chef. I pretty much can't stand reality TV, but this one I think is decent enough to steal away some of my time.
One thing that is common with a lot of reality TV, is the idea of a one-shot competition. I don't know if that is an official or even real term, but that is the term I use for those style of competitions where at the beginning of each round, every contestant is on equal footing and they are given one shot at not being sent home.
This got me thinking. I don't like these style of competitions. In fact, thinking back, I never had -- I had to deal with this back in high school and college! The problem, in my opinion, is that the best person in the competition and have a bad day and be sent packing. That's it, no second chance. So, instead of actually determining the best person in the competition, it's more about who has the most luck (slipping by under the radar) and hope that the better competitors have a bad day.
I'll use my self as an example. My freshman year of high school, I went off to band camp, went through the requisite try-outs, and made 2nd band/2nd chair. Not too shabby for a 14 year old. The following year (10th grade) I went through tryouts and made 4th band/next to last chair. That means I was the next to last worst saxophone player at the entire camp. I was devastated and pretty much hated the entire week of camp. In 4th band, I would be playing music meant for beginners. Was I worse than I was the previous year? Had everyone else progressed that much further than me since the last year? It's not that I sucked, I just had a bad day. We all have them from time to time.. I knew I was a better player and actually proved it through the following week at camp; I went to sectionals for the entire camp and got placed in the first group; During rehersals for the 4th band that week, after the conductor was flustered with the 1st chair player during a solo, he proceeded to have everyone re-tryout and I got placed in the 1st chair. Afterwards, he asked me why I was in the 4th band and all I could say was that I had had a bad tryout. He responded with, "I understand" and, "That's too bad". He then proceeded to follow it all up (with and evil grin on his face), "Well, I'm glad that I get you!"
So, what is my point? What is the point for all this rambling? I think these types of competitions are a bad idea. In the case of a show like Top Chef, I think the following would be a better system.
1. At the end of each round, give each contestant a score based on pre-determined criteria.
2. Don't eliminate anyone for a couple of rounds to allow for some point accumulation.
3. After the first couple of rounds, send home the person with the lowest overall score at the end of each round.
4. Allow bonus points for specific achievements and/or goals.
With this system, the best contestants will bubble to the top. Having bonuses will also allow a good contestant to recover from a bad round.
Wow, that sure was a lot of thinking and time used up for something that means absolutely nothing in grand scheme of things... :)
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