Choosing Contestants

Have you ever wondered how reality television shows choose their contestants? Sure, we all know that many shows have people send in audition tapes for their chance to appear on a reality show, but there is much more to go through than just creating an audition tape. In Keith Hoolihan's article "Manufacturing Reality-The Omarosa Experiment" (www.themorningnews.org), he talks with different reality contestants about how they were chosen for their reality series. He interviewed Solovey who stated that he had to go to an open casting call where he answered questions from the casting people. This is only the first stage because then the show has call backs for their potential reality stars. During this whole time, the people auditioning sign a non-disclosure so they can not speak of the process and many of them are uncertain of exactly what is happening or how close they are to getting picked. The people auditioning are chosen by their personality-how they stand out or how they will fit in with the show and interact with other contestants. Before the person can be an official contestant for the show, they must be interviewed by psychologists who "determine how they will react" once they are placed on the show. Once they are assesed by the psychologists, they can then be placed as a contestant on a reality show. So, this is the grueling process that potential contestants must go through before they can get their 15 minutes of fame.