ESCAPE TO REALITY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TRY OUT FOR UNSCRIPTED SHOWS - ARE THEY DELUDED MASOCHISTS OR THE SYMPATHETIC NEW FACE OF TV?

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

``American Idol'' winners and runners-up have accounted for more than 3 million CD sales, yet Simon Cowell, alternately known as the funny judge or the mean judge - whatever you call him, he's the guy who draws millions of viewers - says, ``I wouldn't watch the show unless there were loads of bad people, because that's what I like watching. If you go to any audition, 95 percent of the people who turn up are useless.

``So if you're going to keep this under the reality banner, you have to keep that part in. And the good thing about 'American Idol' is that it has a sense of humor.''

Case in point was William Hung, whose awful rendition of Ricky Martin's ``She Bangs'' on ``Idol'' won him fans across the country and made him a running joke on ``The Late Show With David Letterman'' and other venues. The segment on Hung, who grew up in Van Nuys, was only included to show what not to do when auditioning for the show. Luckily, the 21-year-old, a student at University of California, Berkeley, didn't take umbrage at Cowell's curtly dismissive ``You can't sing, you can't dance.'' Instead, Hung's lack of talent and sincerity has turned him momentarily into a celebrity. But the fact that he had no real ambition to be a star makes him very different than other contestants.

``One of the things that's missing in the music industry at the moment is that people are taking themselves so seriously,'' says Cowell, ``which is why music on its own doesn't work on TV anymore because these performers are so up their own asses. And that's the whole fun of 'American Idol.' A million people could apply for this show and you're still only going to find two good people, and that is the horrible statistic.''

Who are we to argue?

Still, ``Idol'' lures tens of thousands of wannabes with its siren song of stardom - ``American Losers,'' Robert Thompson of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, calls them. The genre of reality television draws hundreds of thousands of potential participants, even though, as viewers can attest, most of them end up looking foolish, venal or worse.

Reality television has been a major force in American television since at least 2000, and though precious few of those aspirants have achieved genuine stardom, thousands more audition for every new series. So, where is the disconnect between the reality of reality TV and the majority who think they can circumnavigate its pitfalls?

The question ``makes an assumption that they feel foolish, and the possibility exists that they don't,'' says Karen Miller, senior vice president of Reality Central, a cable network dedicated to the genre scheduled to debut this fall. ``Regardless of what happens, many feel that this may be the best thing that has happened to them in their lives.

``People pay attention to these shows and their casting processes. There's a value to them, to say, 'I did it, I made it.' The casting process is extraordinary - thousands of possible contestants are reviewed over and over, and by the time one lands on one of these shows, you fall in the 'super' category. 'The Apprentice' had 250,000 applications - just to be chosen is an accomplishment.''

Prior to joining Reality Central, Miller developed the phenomenally popular syndicated legal series ``Judge Judy,'' which became a hit due to its jurist raining down vicious judgments upon its participants.

``Those who came on the show knew they stood the chance to have Judy come down on them. The truth is, most thought it would never happen to them. The quality of ego of most people prevents them from being bothered even if they do - after all, they got to be on TV,'' said Miller.

``Some people,'' adds Syracuse University's Thompson, ``have self-images that are not terribly realistic or not consistent with other people's images.''

Miller agrees. ``No one can prepare (participants for reality TV). Until you're in there, you don't know how you're going to react.''

Deborah Jermyn, British co-editor of the book ``Understanding Reality Television,'' says, ``There is sometimes a sense that some of the would-be stars that appear on 'Pop Idol' (as 'American Idol' is known in England) are genuinely deluded, in that they really don't grasp how dreadful their voice and/or image are! But, equally, there are those who seem very much aware and are quite willing to laugh at themselves, and the program, by going in for it anyway.

``Of course, there is also the potential that they might become temporary, minor celebrities (like Hung) by virtue of their sheer awfulness - some of the failed contestants in Great Britain have attracted a lot of quite affectionate, warm-hearted, mock adulation for their efforts.''

Increasingly, reality producers are seeking participants outside mass auditions. David Stanley and Scott Stone of Stone Stanley Entertainment, producers of shows such as ``The Mole,'' ``Oblivious'' (in which contestants are literally found on the street) and the cable-network Spike-TV hit ``The Joe Schmo Show,'' in which a faux reality program was built to play a prank on one individual, say producers have begun to search for people outside media-oriented cities to find participants who don't just have their eyes on future stardom. (Randi Coy of Fox's ``My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance'' was discovered this way, as well. She was a teacher from Scottsdale, Ariz., at the time she did the show.)

``We targeted a couple of cities, and looked for people in bars, gyms, parties and parks,'' Stanley says of his search for the perfect ``Joe Schmo.'' ``We were looking for a regular guy, an interesting character people could be vested in yet was smart enough to be a challenge to us in that particular format. And we wanted to find somebody who would respond, once he learned the secret, in some way other than killing us.''

``We want to find people who are not just interested in being on TV,'' Scott adds. ``Applicants tend to be aspiring actors and actresses; they come to the audition trying to give you what they think you want for your show. That's one of the big reasons we go outside of the big cities.''

Miller notes that new sources of contestants are an imperative. ``Once these shows have been on the air, contestants learn the game and there can be a sameness to it,'' she says. ``You have to keep casting differently to keep it fresh and interesting for the viewer, which forces new places to find talent.''

Stanley says participants have become savvy enough that their concerns about embarrassment must be assuaged. ``In general, they're concerned about the way they'll be portrayed on TV,'' he says. ``We tell contestants on our shows, viewers may see some flaws in their character, but we'll never present them as a person different from what they are. You may find behavior to be outrageous, but usually, that's who that person is.''

And audiences respond to that honesty, no matter how honest it might actually be.

``There's a certain stand-offishness that stars take with fans, that velvet-rope attitude,'' Miller says. ``With reality stars, they're treated just like everyday people, and fans who talk to them talk to them like next-door neighbors or cousins. They've seen their thought process and seen their pain. It's the emotional connection the audience or fan can make with real people that they don't make with actors in roles. ... Reality stars break through that. It's like talking to a friend.''

Jermyn adds, ``Audiences do develop quite intense 'relationships' with RTV participants. They talk about them passionately; their 'stories' are taken up across the popular media and often widely debated.''

The problem with reality TV, Jermyn admits, is that viewer relationships with contestants ``aren't usually sustainable ones, because the programs themselves aren't sustained. As new series/contestants arrive, we move on to new relationships. The reason why viewers might appear to be more involved with scripted characters on long-running series is because the series format enables them to build relationships that do indeed run and develop over years.''

David Kronke, [phone]

david.kronke(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) The judges on Fox's ``American Idol'' - Randy Jackson, left, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell - have probably seen enough untalented people to last several lifetimes.

(2) People who came on ``Judge Judy'' knew the odds were good the jurist would reprimand them, says the show's developer, but the desire to be on TV rendered humiliation a moot point.

(3) Producers searched far and wide for Matt Kennedy Gould, the ``Joe Schmoe'' who would make a suitable dupe for their program.

(4) Simon Cowell

dispenser of harsh truths