Realities of reality TV mean little when it’s personal

It's time to give myself a reality check on TV talent contests.

For years I've worked to put them in perspective, writing about the (usually) healthy relationship between almost-famous Las Vegas entertainers and the boost they get from TV, whether it turns out to be fleeting or more enduring.

But now "American Idol" is hitting home in a personal way, and it has me thinking back.

When was the first time I knew the local entertainers on a TV talent contest? Probably "The Entertainer." I'm sure you've forgotten the low-rated 2005 knockoff of "The Apprentice," with Wayne Newton mentoring young performers.

Still, I remember running into magician Nathan Burton and quick-change comedian Joe Trammel during its TV run, and sharing their excitement in being stopped for photos and autographs after years in the trenches as Las Vegas variety acts.

It was a major jump to prime time and bigger ratings for Burton the next summer, when he made the first season of "America's Got Talent."

Since then, "Talent" has nearly exhausted the Las Vegas talent pool. It's been such a win-win for Las Vegas and NBC, you forget how many people have been on it.

Last week's news that Derrick Barry will take his Britney Spears impersonation to "RuPaul's Drag Race" on March 7 seemed kind of deja vu. Ah, that's right. Barry was on "Talent" in Season 3, in 2008 and I was rooting for him because I knew him from "La Cage" at the Riviera.

One season of "Talent," the fifth — which aired in the summer of 2010 — says plenty about the finicky nature of TV-contest fame. The winner was blues-rock singer and Las Vegan Michael Grimm. He's a real talent and still working hard, but not at the level you'd think he would be.

The runner-up was operatic singer Jackie Evancho, who is still not quite 16 but vaulted to the pops and classical-crossover circuit with the help of producer David Foster.

But that season also included pop violinist Lindsey Stirling, "Tournament of Kings" villain Antonio Restivo and two magicians: Dan Sperry recently was on Broadway with "The Illusionists," while Murray Sawchuck has fueled his ongoing live show at Planet Hollywood with more than 20 reality shows.

"Talent" was "the one that really changed the game for me, from being a good magician to a name magician,'" Sawchuck says. He has a theory about life in general and network-TV breaks in particular. You do have to be in the right place at the right time, "but you also have to be ready."

"Everyone gets an opportunity for something that's life-changing," he says. But if they don't make the most of it, it's because they weren't ready.

You see Jennifer Romas on billboards now for "Sexxy," which she produces and performs in at Westgate Las Vegas. It's been a long time since Romas and her ex-husband competed as acrobats Mario & Jenny on "Talent" in Season 4, but it sure seemed important then.

"It took a lot out of us," Romas recalled recently. "If that is your career, you want to win. It was very difficult for our marriage and my ex-husband. It strained us big time. We put everything into it, building new props and investing our money. Literally, you give it your all, you want it so bad."

But with the perspective of time? "People are smarter about reality shows now," Romas says.

All these thoughts, true as they may be, won't make a difference when "American Idol" goes live next week, with one of my daughter's closest friends as one of the contestants.

If you're following the show, she's Jeneve Rose Mitchell, the "off the grid" Colorado cowgirl.

The Mitchells still have lots of family in Las Vegas — Jeneve's sister Jessica Lovell is assistant principal at Palo Verde High School — though they moved to Colorado in 2007, after Jeneve went to preschool at CSN's Early Childhood Education Lab Program, and kindergarten and first grade at Dorothy Eisenberg Elementary School.

I've watched Jeneve grow up since her days of chasing up and down our stairs on all fours playing "coyote," and I've been to the family homestead, the most relaxing place in the world, at least in the summertime.

So to see her make the Top 14 on the final season of "Idol"? Surreal. No other word for it.

I can't decide if it's more or less surreal that I've interviewed both Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban over the years and now watch them both praise her musical instincts.

Or that I likewise interviewed Taylor Hicks in 2012, only to see him fire up an impromptu jam session with Jeneve at her Denver audition. Hicks spending that summer in a curtained-off lounge at Bally's is a reminder that some "Idol" champs go on to be Carrie Underwood and some do not.

Still, our family had some powerful hints after some excited phone calls during the pre-taped portions of the competition. When her audition finally aired, it was like we forgot we knew the outcome.

Jeneve is still not quite 16, hardly a working pro on the Strip. But now, as her Facebook "Likes" shoot up by more than 1,000 a week, it's almost like the Jeneve we see on TV has become this separate entity, part of the entertainment culture I cover. It's her, but increasingly, it isn't. Weirder still to see what other bloggers and scribes write about her.

So, yes, I know the realities of reality TV. And none of that will keep me from being on the edge of the sofa Wednesday night.

— Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com and follow @Mikeweatherford on Twitter.