Eden Gaha’s Deep Thoughts On Reality Television

Remember Eden Gaha? The host of Vidiot? The occasional musical theatre performer and sometime Home & Away pin-up from the ’90s?

He’s been in the States for some time now, and has had considerable success as a producer of reality television, working with Mark Burnett and others, and is currently producing a second series of Celebrity Apprentice.

All standard industry, back-slapping the successful expat stuff, but we did find his comments regarding local versions of US reality franchises quite telling (in light of So You Think You Can Dance Australia ending up a pale imitation of the OG version):

Locally made reality television shows have been met with mixed success in Australia, with audiences tending to favour reality programs produced in the US.

While Gaha agrees shows such as So You Think You Can Dance have been successfully adapted for Australian audiences, he says the American character tends to lend itself more easily to some reality formats.

“Some of the shows and some of the formats mean more in the United States so they mean more to American contestants and they play out better on TV, so that’s possibly why those shows have done better with American casts.”

We’re inclined to agree. Naturally there are loads of dancers in Australia, and lots of working ones, too, but there’s something about the American dream, not to mention opportunities like dance revues in Las Vegas and LA, that makes SYTYCD – the proper version – so compelling.

American Series Two winner Benji ended up in an Xtina video, ferchrissakes! With the Australian version it’s all a bit, “So what? Even if I win I’ll still have to wait tables/teach toddlers jazz ballet/be on the Dole.”