Currently listening to – nothing
After viewing all the hatred and bias directed towards the winner of a certain singing talent competition in my native Malta, I couldn’t help but wonder, are we truly encouraging youngsters today to flourish creatively, or are these so-called ‘talent competitions’ doing more harm than good?
Let’s take a look at the very root of the problem. First of all, these talent competitions are owned by multinational corporations, whose aim is not to expand the creative careers of young people, but to milk as much cash as possible from desperate youngsters who want to be ‘discovered’. Furthermore, we are fostering a mentality that promotes unhealthy competition, instead of encouraging and investing in young people’s creative output and giving them the tools necessary to take care of their mental well-being in tough industries such as the music industry. Instead, a lot of young people today think that the only way they can ‘make it’ is to take part in these competitions. What’s more, music labels prefer investing in artists who are already famous via these reality shows, rather than striving to discover and invest in developing artists who are truly trying to work hard on their musical output in an organic manner.
I am particularly disgusted by the way the public is trying to pit two teenage female contestants against each other. This brings another bigger issue into focus: the mentality of pitting women against each other, and tallying them up, rather than encouraging more women to involve themselves in the arts. It is a classic case of online bullying, with the aim of putting young women down and making them doubt themselves… crushing them into pieces and destroying their self-esteem. It is truly disgusting to watch how a country that portrays itself as progressive in the eyes of the world, is still largely bigoted and so easily duped by public displays of a Hunger Games-like manifestation.
Oh My Malta…how can we all still be so blind?
Janelle Borg 