The Runner Up Takes It All: Difference between revisions

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** That's mostly because the competition is heavily rigged. [[Omniscient Morality License|Tyra may decide from the beginning what kind of winner she wants]] and stage the competition accordingly. Picking mediocre photos on purpose, editing the film with a bias against certain contestants, eliminating girls who might pose a threat to the pre-selected winner, etc. It's pretty common knowledge that C10's Whitney won over far more modelesque Anya only because "It was about time they had a plus-sized girl win." In C12, Allison and Teyona were pretty toe to toe, but Teyona was picked to continue the pattern of [[Token Minority|a black winner every 3rd cycle.]]

*** There's also the fact that Tyra, despite her [[Alternate Character Interpretation|good intentions/narcissism]], has a tendency to pick girls who will NEVER get work in the real modeling world for one superficial reason or another. Too "old" for being over 22, too "fat" for being over 115 pounds, too "short" for being under 5'7, etc. It wouldn't be surprising at all if none of the girls from Cycle 13 (where the gimmick was that all of them were under 5'7" tall) got work after the show wrapped for the season. Because of this and the reason above, agencies are hesitant or outright refuse to hire past contestants. One fashion expert mentioned that agencies just don't like being told who the "next big thing" is.

* Venezuelan TV fame-seeking reality ''Fama y Aplausos'', provided us Hany Kauam and Mayré Martínez, two singers who were expelled before the finale. About two years later, and nearly at the same time, Kawam released a pop album who went Gold, and Mayré become one of the favorites contestants in ''Latin American Idol'', causing several journalist to say "those judges from ''Fama y Aplausos'' must be kicking themselves now". Then Mayré went to prove this trope right by winning ''LAI'', and having her career stalled since then.

* Finnish ''Idols'' has this too. First year, runner up Antti Tuisku became the iconic Idols star, third season, though the winner got a decent amount of fame, the runner-up Anna Abreu is generally the bigger star. This is also predicted to happen with the 2008 season, with Pete Parkkonen who came in third.

* You may not remember that, thanks to [[Hype Backlash]], Susan Boyle actually came ''second'' in ''[[Britain's Got Talent (TV)|Britains Got Talent]]'' 2009, what with more than ''10 million'' copies of her debut album sold worldwide. (The actual winners? Dance troupe ''Diversity''.)

** Diversity have done pretty well for themselves, though... it's just that dance troupes don't really release albums or anything.

* In a way, Gwen from [[Total Drama Island]] (the runner up of the first season) because she is better liked by the fanbase.

* Heather Morris was eliminated just before the top 20 of [[So You Think You Can Dance]]. She went on to dance for [[Beyonce Knowles]] in the Single Ladies tour and currently plays the role of the famously brainless Brittany in ''[[Glee]]''.

* This trope is older than Reality TV. In 1986, [[Halle Berry]] was Miss Ohio in the Miss USA pageant, but came in second place for the main title. Obviously, she has since gone on to become an Oscar-winning actress.

* On a similar note, the winner of the inaugural Elite Model Management ''Look of the Year'' contest in 1983 was a 15-year-old called Lisa Hollenbeck. Among the losers that year were Cindy Crawford and Stephanie Seymour, who've probably gotten over their disappointment by now.

* ''Nashville Star'' zig-zags this trope. While season 4 winner Chris Young has become a mid-level star after a false start, the only other winner to even see Top 40 more than once was Buddy Jewell (whose debut album produced two #3 hits and was certified gold before a [[Sophomore Slump]] from which he never recovered). In comparison, [[Miranda Lambert]] (third place in Season 1) has far outdone everyone else on the show commercially, even if it took until her third album to get a big hit.

* For a while, ''[[Canadian Idol]]'' Season 5 winner Brian Melo had the best career of the singers that season, if only because his winner's single hit #11 on the Canadian Hot 100. Four years later, third-placer Carly Rae Jepsen releases the single "Call Me Maybe," which has so far topped over ten national charts, hit #2 in the United States, and become a full-fledged [[Memetic Mutation|meme]].

[[Category:Reality TV Tropes]]

[[Category:The Runner Up Takes It All]]