Elimination Houdini: Difference between revisions

On competition-based [[Reality TV]], especially [[Talent Show|Talent Shows]]s, one needs to exhibit the talent or skill necessary to win in order to justify their continuing existence on the show. Some contestants just don't have that, and most are quickly jettisoned.

It's not enough for a contestant to be deemed incompetent by a mere sizable portion of viewers, though. There needs to be an overwhelming consensus that the Elimination Houdini just doesn't belong on the show anymore. What's more, this sentiment should also be shared by the other contestants (for shows with [[Confession Cam|Confession Cams]]s) or the judges (where the home audience votes and the judges have little to no influence anymore).

There is also another form of [['''Elimination Houdini]]''', commonly seen in shows like ''[[Survivor]]'' in which the contestants vote people out and not the audience. They may be the second person or another target for elimination, but somehow manage to avoid it, and they can do it in several ways. Either they get lucky and someone makes a bone-headed move that gets ''them'' on the chopping block instead, they instead gun for a different threat, a [[Non Gameplay Elimination]] spares them a round, or the [['''Elimination Houdini]]''' manages to talk their way out of elimination and avoids death. If the players are moderately [[Genre Savvy]], a bad player may become a Houdini through stronger players actively protecting them - why knock them out now when they could be easy competition in the finals? Often this happens when [[Tall Poppy Syndrome]] kicks up.

It is actually fully possible for the [['''Elimination Houdini]]''' to ''win''. In shows about alliances, they may be somewhat of a "Deadly Floater" who floats along then slips through the cracks in alliances, or plays enough of a social game their [[Entitled Bastard]] opponent(s) get a good "Not you!" in the final round. Or, in a talent-based show, they have a fanbase who votes for them because they want to see them continue. Maybe they're [[So Bad It's Good]].

* Every season of ''[[American Idol]]'' has had at least one [['''Elimination Houdini]]''', usually endorsed by VoteForTheWorst.com:

** On the other hand, one could say that the ultimate [['''Elimination Houdini]]''' was Donald Braswell of Season 3. Who, thanks to an injury to a high-risk act that made the top 40, won the right to replace them. And made the top 5. Of course, many would argue he was actually snubbed from the top 40 to begin with.

* The first ''WWE Diva Search'' featured Carmella De Cesare, who made it all the way to the final before losing at the very end, thus taking second place overall. She had managed to become so universally hated that it's seriously believed they deliberately fudged the votes and kept her on just so people would keep waiting to see her finally get eliminated (and thus hopefully keep watching.) This is the WWE, after all--totallyall—totally scripted [[Face]] vs. [[Heel]] matchups is what they do. Her existence was finally justified when, just before the winner was announced, Trish Stratus took both competitors apart in a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].

*** Another example of an [['''Elimination Houdini]]''' winning is Christina from Season 4, who was nominated a total of five times, including in the penultimate round; compare to runner-up Petrozza, who was only nominated once, and then only because he chose to nominate himself rather than one of his teammates, causing Gordon to praise his selflessness and call him a "true gentleman".