Reality TV Show

English 2 (ENGL 0205)

Assignment 1: Comparison Essay

Daniel Yap Chung Kiat

0309100

Television is a technology product that can be almost found in every house

in twenty one century. Why is it so important? It is because television has become a main

source of entertainment. People can watch many television programmes through it such

as drama series, reality TV show and etc. Today, let us discuss about one genre of

television programme— reality TV shows. By definition, “Reality TV is essentially

unscripted programming that doesn’t employ actors and focus on footage of real events

or situations.” (Metz, 2007) In the other words, reality TV is “A type of television

programming which aims to show how ordinary people behave in everyday life, or in

situations, often created by the programme makers, which are intended to represent

everyday life.”(HarperCollins publishers, 1995) The reality TV shows are whether shoots

in front of a live studio audience that participate in the show, shoot using hidden camera,

or just shoot at scene the where participants compete. These reality shows often use a

host to run the show or set the stage of events that are about to unfold. Some of the reality

TV shows award the winners a prize which can attract more participants. “Top Chef”,

“The X Factor” and “Fear Factor” are the examples of reality TV shows that award the

winner with prizes.

Today, I would like to discuss about two reality TV shows, which are “Top Chef”

and “The X Factor”. Firstly, I would like to talk about “Top Chef”. It is an American TV

programme that shows about the competition between the chefs. The participants have to

make the judges satisfied with the food they prepared to proceed to the next level. The

chef who wins in the final will be awarded a prize and gain the title of “Top Chef”. In the

other hand, “The X Factor” is a British Television programme that shows about the

competition between people who likes to sing. The contestants are selected through the

producers’ audition. They have to use their singing technique to conquer the judges to

proceed to the next level. The winner of the finalist will be awarded with a recording

contract with Syco Music, in association with Sony Music.

The common part of these two reality TV shows is starting with a host who

introduce the competition. The plot between two competitions is different. For “The

Chef”, firstly, the host introduce the rule of the competition and said that the competitors

are divided in few groups. Each group will be assigned with different materials for the

food preparation. After that, the scene in the “Top Chef’s Kitchen” has been taken. There

are two challenges before they can make to final, “Quickfire Challenge” and

“Elimination Challenge”. During the challenges, there are different types of materials

selection. At the challenges, the competitors are first to introduce themselves to judges.

After the introduction, the judges will introduce the materials and let the competitors to

choose, prepare and cook in a limited time. After the time ends up, the competitors are

asked to stop all their works no matter they finish them or not. The competitors are dived

into few sections to present their food. After tasting the food, three of the judges will

decide who is going to proceed to the next level by giving them a blue chef coat. For

those who failed to prepare the food, they are whether asked to leave or compete once

again. The competitors who win the final challenge will be granted with cash money and

the title “Top Chef”. The plot of “The X Factor” is different from “The Chef”. The

contestants have to go through four stages before they can proceed to the final, which is a

live show. At first, as I have mentioned before, the contestants have to go through the

producers’ auditions to enter the judges’ audition. These auditions decide who will sing

in front of the judges. After the judges’ auditions, there will be a Bootcamp stage, a

Judges’ houses stage and finally live shows. For those who succeed in the finalist will be

awarded with a recording contract with the well-known music company as I mentioned

before.

Besides the plot, both reality TV shows also have difference in the characteristics.

The first one is the genre of the reality TV shows. Although both reality TV shows are

competition type, “Top Chef” is about cooking while “The X Factor” is about singing.

The producer(s), broadcasting channel and the number of episodes are also different. The

producers of “The Chef” are Tiger Aspect USA and Magical Elves Productions. The

broadcasting channel of “The Chef” is Bravo TV and the number of episodes is hundred

and thirty six. The producers of “The X Factor” are FremantleMedia’s Thames and

SYCOtv. This programme is broadcasted in ITV and has two hundred and forty five

episodes. There are also different in the prizes that awarded to the winner but the prizes

vary as time goes by.

Both of the reality TV shows are originated from different countries. Origin of the

“Top Chef” is United State while “The X Factor” is originated from United Kingdom.

Besides that, the running time of the both shows is also different. “Top Chef” is sixty

minutes per episode and “The X Factor” is forty five to hundred and ten minutes per

episode. The “Top Chef” started since 8 of March 2006 and “The X Factor” started in 4

of September 2004. Furthermore, the running time of “Top Chef” and “The X Factor” are

also different which are sixty minutes and forty five to hundred and ten minutes

respectively.

In a nutshell, as the public stage or media, it is good chance to let the contestant to

gain experience and a time to let them practise to perfect. These reality TV shows are not

only interesting, but also educate the audience.

Reference List:

1. HarperCollins Publishers, 1995. http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-

cobuild/reality%20tv

2. Metz, 2007. How Reality TV Works. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/reality-

tv.htm

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFmvIR0yNoY