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188Comunicar, 39, XX, 2012famous). «OT» and «Fama» are presented as «institutions»able to give the contestants the necessary competenciesfor achieving it. Consequently, participatingin the contest and winning it are the instrumentalobjects of value. However, in the programme’s discoursea direct relationship is established betweenachieving the instrumental and the main OV, so thatthe importance is transferred from the second to thefirst. This is made clear in the auditions, in which it isshown that for the applicants getting onto the programme(and winning it) is in itself a dream.In the audition episodes, the long queues, theIn both programmes analysed, success does not only dependon talent and effort, it is also a question of appearances(physical appearance and the way of dressing and speaking).Therefore, we can relate «OT» and «Fama» to the conceptof «phantasmagoric labour» (Sternberg, 1998), that is, theimportance of appearances in the current work environmentand the need to apply «branding» strategies to individuals.inclusion of applicants with no talent in the final editingand the diversity of applicants and contestants inrelation to social class, education, habitat, sex, and, toa lesser degree, age 6 , conveys the idea of democraticand universal access to the opportunity of obtainingthe instrumental (and main) OV. However, only asmall number of applicants can become contestantsand only one of them will win the contest. Therefore,while everyone has the opportunity, only the «best»can obtain the OV.The audition episodes also legitimate the main,and especially, the instrumental OV and load themwith positive connotations, which also helps to legitimatethe actual programme. In order to do this theprocess for selecting the contestants is based on aritualised structure of rounds, tests and verdicts thatmaximises the applicants’ emotional responses, whichare emphasised in turn by the narrative form andaudiovisual style: close ups, extradiegetic music, slowmotion, internal focalisation with respect to the participantsto generate intrigue, superimposed texts andnarrative dilation.3.2. Methods prescribed for obtaining the object ofvalueOnce the contestants have been selected, theirtransformation process begins. This is carried out intwo ways: training and education (improving theirdancing and singing abilities), and «celebritisation»(their construction as stars to gain popularity and commercialvalue). These are the two «solutions» pres -cribed by these programmes for achieving professionalsuccess.3.2.1. Training and education«OT» and «Fama» are notjust simple talent contests; theirobjective is to transform theparticipants through trainingand education. Significantly,both formats use a school-relatedvocabulary to name thespaces and the activities performedby the participants. Belowwe outline the values thatguide this dimension of theprogrammes.Firstly, effort and sacrifice.The design of the academy/school is significant. In thisspace there is no strict separationbetween the spaces forthe contestants’ personal lifeand those for their professional life. The extreme caseis «Fama», in which any room can become a rehearsalarea, which shows how the professional sphereexpands and colonises the personal space. In addition,the contestants have to bear a large work load (especiallyin «Fama»), which is emphasised in the dailysummaries thanks to their serial structure and a plotcentred on classes and rehearsals. Finally, the isolationthe participants are subjected to during the contest suggeststhe sacrifice of the personal and family life infavour of the quest for success.Secondly, constant pressure. This is often dis -guised as the expectations the teachers place on theparticipants, so that disappointment is usually invokedwhen a contestant does not reach the required level.For example, in «Fama» this constant pressure is evidencedby the contest rules, which do not take intoaccount the progressive increase in difficulty and arethe cause of «the curse of the newcomers» 7 . At thesame time this pressure provokes emotional responsesin the participants (shown and emphasised by thenarrative form and audiovisual style), which once© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293• Pages 185-192
189again serve to show the importance that the instrumental(and main) OV have for them.Finally, discipline is another characteristic element.The participants must obey the teachers’ orders andthe judges’ comments (which are often humiliating)without questioning them, not even in private giventhat they are under constant video-surveillance and arealso evaluated for the attitude they show in their «privatelife». In this way a strong inequality is establishedbetween the teachers/judges and the contestants,especially when the participants do not have any controlover their own training process and their publicimage and identity as a dancer or singer. Both programmesimpose on the contestants which pieces theywill interpret, the attitude they should adopt on stage,how they should move and how they should dress.This leads to an ambiguity in the roles assigned tothe characters: although it could seem that in the plotof «OT» and «Fama» the contestants play the role ofsubject of doing (heroes) 8 , in reality these programmesfocus their attention on «the hero’s journey» (which isa narrative subprogramme that tells how the contestantsachieve the competences necessary for becomingthe subject of doing), while the main narrative programmeof the story (in which the contestants, transformedinto heroes, obtain the main OV) is omitted.This also reinforces the confusion between the instrumentalOV (winning the contest) and the main OV(becoming a star).3.2.2. «Celebritisation»As well as training, «Fama» and «OT» use anothermethod for transforming the contestants: representingthem as stars 9 (celebritising them).First, this means portraying them as extraordinarypeople worthy of admiration. For example, in «OT»this is done in the weekly shows, in which the contestantsdemonstrate their remarkable singing abilities thatdifferentiate them from ordinary people. The contestants’physical appearance and televisual representationare also exceptional: dressed up and made up likestars the contestants perform in a space designed tomimic a pop concert, with an elaborate and spectacularset design and visual aesthetics. This reference isnot trivial, given that concerts are a ritual in which fanscan show their commitment to the singer they admire,and the singer can establish a more direct and emotionalrelationship with their fans (Marshall, 1997: 158-159). Significantly, below the stage on which the contestantssing there is a large pit full of spectators standingup. Thanks to this stage design, the contestantsare shown acting for an enthralled audience, whosurround the stage and raise their hands towards them,which they also do when the contestants cross thebridge to the judges’ area. This is a way of representingthe visibility gained by the contestants (we seethem being watched and admired) 10 .The weekly shows and live performances showthe unique and extraordinary qualities of the contestants,but «OT» and «Fama» also include contents thattry to answer the question of what the contestants/stars are «really» like (Dyer, 1986: 8-18). Therefore,the contestants are also portrayed as «normal» people(constructing in this way the ordinary/extraordinarydialectic on which the discourses on stars are traditionallybuilt (Dyer, 2001: 55-68; Marshall, 1997: 79-94).This is done mainly through the daily programmes,which show the everyday life of the contestants in thehouse/school. In these programmes we see everythingthat is hidden behind the performances (rehearsals,suffering, nerves) with the aim of showing the hiddenside of the participants in order to enrich the publicimage created in the weekly shows (they have an equivalentfunction to gossip magazines). In this sense, it issignificant that the aesthetic conventions of «BigBrother» are used to emphasise the authenticity of theimages and that the contestants’ feelings are revealedthrough confessions. Both in «Fama» (in the diaryroom) and «OT» (in the videoblogs on the programme’swebsite), the contestants express their feelings orthey communicate with their fans through monologues,establishing an intimate relationship with the viewersbased on the expression of «authentic» emotions(Aslama & Pantti, 2006).Finally, another way of «celebritising» the contestantsis to construct the model viewer as a fan. Firstly,this is done through the game rules: the voting is infavour of the contestants (to save them, not to evictthem), and therefore appeals to their followers (thishappens in «OT» throughout the entire programmeand in «Fama» in the last part of the contest). Second,the structure of the programmes, with contents thatspread over different time slots and the Web, constructsa model viewer that gathers information to createa consistent identity of the two sides of the contestant(on and off the stage). Finally, the repercussionsthe programmes have in the outside world are includedin the text, showing images of fans that go to CDsignings and performances, yelling, holding up signsand wearing T-shirts with supportive slogans. In thisway the programmes try to go beyond the limits of thepure textuality on which the contestants are «celebritised».Comunicar, 39, XX, 2012© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293• Pages 185-192
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