Some people can take the moral high ground when reviewing this show and sniff and snipe at how mean-spirited and cruel it was. I, on the other hand, lament that there was only one season produced, and that the "new" CW hasn't seen fit to resurrect it.
In my own not-so-humble opinion, SUPERSTARS USA wasn't just another reality show, but a wickedly brilliant, twisted commentary on reality shows in general...and one in particular.
I mean, let's be real, folks. "American Idol" has been decried and downgraded for playing to the basest level of what passes for entertainment, yet it continues to be phenomenally successful year after year. And what part of the show draws some of the highest numbers? The 'city auditions', of course, when the search commences for the finalists, and we have the opportunity to see some of the best and WORST that America has to offer. Randy 'woofs', Paula gushes incoherently, and Simon...well, you know what he does.
We eventually breathe a collective sigh of relief, having come out the other side of about six weeks' worth of pure hell, and get to cheer on the remaining contestants all the way down to the finale, our guilt at the public humiliation of all past castoffs forgotten.
If SUPERSTARS was guilty of anything, it completely stole the chronicle of IDOL'S first six weeks and ran with it, standing the concept of a talent search/singing competition on its head.
So, you love to watch delusional people who believe that they're God's gift to the music world? How about a show that plays right into that delusion, and makes you a co-conspirator? It isn't anything you weren't already doing when you laughed at William Hung, or what's going on right now during the current IDOL season, with the whole Sanjaya controversy.
It was just appalling yet amazing by turns, the lengths that the producers went to with SUPERSTARS. For those who have no idea what it was about, the concept was shockingly simple: hold auditions for the competition, but instead of conducting a search for the best singer in America, as IDOL professes to do, you look for the WORST.
It made for jaw-dropping, great television. Magnificent singers were told that they "weren't right for the contest", while some of the most appalling screechers, screamers and out-of-tune warblers were given verbal pats-on-the-back, told how "amazing" and "marvelous" they were. A lot of them had even been part of IDOL'S worst offenders.
Then these 'singers' were given the full treatment, just like on IDOL. Vocal coaches, stylists, time in a recording studio, sightseeing and shopping sprees, professional staging complete with fully orchestrated backing tracks AND backup dancers; the whole works.
And the contest went on exactly like IDOL'S competition, knocking down contestants to the Final Two. Only thing is - they were booted from the stage for IMPROVING, not for getting worse.
And here's where a lot of people think the show went too far: the host, judges' panel, the crew, and even the studio audience and the viewers at home were all in on the hoax. The "contestants" never heard what their competition sounded like until about the very last few episodes, when the remaining four participants were paired off to perform 'duets.' And the eventual winner was never let in on the joke until the very last minute...with everyone holding their breath to see what the reaction would be.
To my estimation, the whole thing was not quite as bad as "Carrie at the prom", as someone once commented about the show. Yes, it happened in front of millions of people, but then again, so do the 'bad' auditions on AI. And not too many reality spoofs award $100,000 for being the worst at anything. So the winner and the runner-up of SUPERSTARS took their money and ran, never to be heard from again, but this show stands in the reality firmament as one of the most genuinely entertaining of its kind.
