Britain's got brats

YouTube - Hollie Steel 1st Attempt - Semi Final 5 - Britains Got Talent 2009 (HQ)

So to sum it up, this little girl Hollie Steel cries on national TV, on the programme Britain's Got Talent, after forgetting her lyrics, begging for a second chance on the semi-finals of Britain's got Talent.

When the producers said no, she started whining, throwing her bouts of tantrum.

She did get a second chance, after Simon said OK.

Well the end result is, she got through to the finals after the judges picked her over another guy.

While I'm not doubting her talent(no matter how limited), the thing is it makes me uncomfortable, that one could throw tantrums to get an unfair advantage over other contestents. I'm sure everyone of them had dragons in their stomachs, and it would have probably affected their performance someway or another. But they did not ask for a second try, nor did they whine.

As youtube user csbrooks puts it:
Not judging, just observing truth.

When a reality show sheds something in a strange light, you take a closer look. What you'll see here upon closer look is a scared little girl who takes advantage of her cuteness as she obviously has many times in her life, to sob her way out of failure.

Have you ever met anyone like this?
I would term it an emotion-manipulating little brat. Would you?

And how would you convince someone else that the person is geniunely a brat?!! (if you happen to agree with me )

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Heck yeah. I've known several guys and girls who do this in various ways. There are some people who grow up learning exactly how to manipulate human nature, and they seem to stick with it when they're adults, too.

Generally, the fact that the person is a brat is really obvious to everybody, and it requires no convincing. Sometimes if the person is especially psychopathic and nobody is really noticing, I will go on a crusade to catch the person in situations where the whiny personality trait is expressed and nobody can possibly not notice. It takes a lot of effort when nobody agrees, and it's usually not worth it.

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I don't follow these shows at all, but a few months back the entire nation was gobsmacked at the incredibly unattractive fortysomething spinster who turned out to have the most beautiful singing voice ever. She got through on her own merit and wound up being a role model for us all or something equally saccharine, I don't know what the fuck. Now she's a media icon and a stern reminder that judging people based on their appearances is a bad thing (yes, most people in this country need to be told this.)

And now, riding on the success of that, they're undoing it all...? I'dn't be surprised if this little shit winds up becoming the poster child for an entire generation of British kids. Cowell should have done his usual and told her to get fucked.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It is my own opinion that children should be barred from entering televised competitions like this. Their presence is an obvious and cloying grab for sympathy; who is cold-hearted enough to ruin the hopes of a child? In reality, the children are the products of overzealous "pageant parents" who trot their child out like a sideshow spectacle, feeding upon a vicarious delusion of self-grandeur.

Unless the contest is specifically for children (creating a level playing field of cuteness), they should be left out and kept in the schools where they belong.

This little whiner deserved to be sent packing for her own failure to perform as would be expected a bonafide star.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I think you're being a wee bit harsh here. How many 12 year old kids would have the stones to sing live on national television on a top rated show? I watched it live and to me it looked like a small girl whose nerves got the better of her and was genuinely upset and wanted another go. I don't blame Holly at all for that, I think most kids would have reacted the same.

I think her mum's annoying as fuck though and comes across as one of those pushy parents living vicariously through their kids. In the same way that I think the blame for those little monsters you see in beauty pageants lies more at the feet of the parents, not the kids.

Holly Steel is a little precocious but I really don't think she was putting that on for the sympathy vote and anyway, the British public hates people like that, that'd never work in her favour. As it is she barely scraped through to the final and she's no chance of winning. Diversity's performance was incredible and the only thing that'll stop them winning is the vote being split between them aqnd Flawless. I'd quite like Stavros Flatley to win though, that was fucking funny.

I appreciate that 98% of the boards membership has no fucking idea what I was talking about in that last paragraph, look it up on itv.com.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I agree with Crash in that children shouldn't be exposed on TV for various reasons.

And as far as being harsh on Holly, little 6-year old Connie Talbot managed to get through live performances (and some flops) on that show without being as a hint of annoying as much as Holly is. Granted Connie may not have been old enough to understand pressure / stage fright, but at least her mum had respect enough to stay off the stage during Connie's performances unless told by the stage crew. The minute Holly's mum showed up and asked for a second chance for her daughter on camera, it gave all the permission Holly needed to go on a tantrum-fit if she didn't get one. (The crowd booing at the fact the producers were being realistic with the time issue probably fed that as well.)

At least in my mind, that's how brats are bred. Holly probably has no clue that she's effectively being bred to be a brat, but that's what I see from that 3 minute clip.

How ya doing, buddy?

Jesus Christ that child looked terrified. Ratings boost is a go!

FELIPE NO

I find it extremely tacky to dress down a twelve year old. That includes comparing one kid's freak out to another kid not freaking out. What are you trying to say, Shorty? Six year old girls are barely aware that boys have dicks, and you're making some sort of judgment on the quality of her character versus some other kid?

Originally Posted by Shorty

At least in my mind, that's how brats are bred. Holly probably has no clue that she's effectively being bred to be a brat, but that's what I see from that 3 minute clip.

I'm glad you could tell that from watching a twelve year old at their worst.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Shin

Holly Steel is a little precocious but I really don't think she was putting that on for the sympathy vote and anyway, the British public hates people like that, that'd never work in her favour. As it is she barely scraped through to the final and she's no chance of winning. Diversity's performance was incredible and the only thing that'll stop them winning is the vote being split between them aqnd Flawless. I'd quite like Stavros Flatley to win though, that was fucking funny.

Diversity's Semifinal performance was brilliant, with the Mission Impossible takeoff. Flawless' A-Team rip was less interesting, but I love their little BURSTS of synchronizedness (not a word).

Am I the only person who doesn't live in Britain who was actually GLAD Susan Boyle didn't win, incidentally?

I mean, she did pretty badly in the semis.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I was secretly hoping Susan Boyle wouldn't win too.
Simply, in my eyes, her act got boring. Don't get me wrong though, she has enormous talent. I wanted Stavros Flatley to win too. Very entertaining act. It has the power to lift spirits on a dark day!

Ok back to Hollie.
Well, as some of you mentioned, it could be her moms fault too, for indulging in her for her whole life.

Heres why.

Think about it, she goes to ballet/singing classes.
From this, possibly her mom expects her to be a super child, so she sends Hollie to all sorts of classes and such. In the quest of doing so, she gives in to Hollie's (tantrum-kid)demands that, if some of us were to try on our parents, could possibly lead to some serious spanking

While I am not saying it is not normal to have tantrums as a kid, I think, yes as a parent, one should never indulge too much in the kid's (unreasonable) demands.

What would constitute an unreasonable demand? I would say:
A demand that would never be fufilled by other people, like lets say in a workplace/school.

This is how the brat syndrome came in, after a long term indulgence.

She should stop sending subliminal messages to her kid that crying/immature demands solves things by stopping the unhealthy indulgence.
(even if its hard to do as all moms love their children aye)
But no second chances. That is the harsh reality of the world. Especially on talent shows like this.

I guess everyone messes up at some point..
But you come to terms with it and go on.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by a lurker

Six year old girls are barely aware that boys have dicks, and you're making some sort of judgment on the quality of her character versus some other kid?

Not judging, observing.

Originally Posted by a lurker

I'm glad you could tell that from watching a twelve year old at their worst.

*shrugs* I've seen plenty of kids aged 3 to 18 perform in singing / piano recitals and competitions, and the ones that react like Hollie usually are very much spoiled. Hollie's mom was a classic example of what feeds that behavior and I simply mentioned that it was clearly visible in that unfortunate instance. The moment mommy showed up, Hollie because completely incapable of having any dignity as a performer.

Izanagi pretty much nailed it: usually ANY performing arts lesson incorporate some form of function that installs some amount of guts to deal with stage fright. I imagine with a pageant mom like Hollie's, the ones she's been sent to are quite expensive.

Twelve years old? She's old enough that she would have at LEAST have had a handful of years with lessons like that. And still acting like a baby? I'm sorry, this poor child is on a solid track to spoiled-bratdom. Call me judgmental, but I've seen enough children perform even more professionally and adequately than some ridiculously paid idols (who was that one chick that lip-sang on SNL and made a sorry excuse later that she had a sore throat?); after a while you just recognize patterns.

That said, amen to what Crash said:

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

This little whiner deserved to be sent packing for her own failure to perform as would be expected a bonafide star.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Well, judging by the performance from the YouTube link, she got a lot of sympathy support from the audience. They even tried to sing some of the missing lyrics. Although, I don't believe her outburst was intentional to slyly make the judges feel bad for X-ing her.

I don't know much about this mysterious art as some of you have referred it as, but her outburst seemed genuine. Who knows! I could be a sucker waiting to crumble too!

But I also agree that she doesn't belong on the stage or in the competition and this performance is evidence enough of that. Why waste people's time with sobbing and misleadings? She wasn't crying because she was nervous. It's obvious she was upset that she knew she messed up and didn't want to be rejected because of it. That it'd supposedly be "unfair" to her, haha.

If we're to hold true to the idea that girls mature faster at a younger age than boys, then don't deny that she understood her predicament enough to be upset at her lack of ability. Not some crap excuse of being nervous.

Also, her singing wasn't that great either. Nothing compared to that little girl (Mackenzie, I think Nope, it was Bianca Ryan) who sang five times better on America's Got Talent. (Some year or two ago, I believe).

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Quote:

Call me judgmental, but I've seen enough children perform even more professionally and adequately than some ridiculously paid idols (who was that one chick that lip-sang on SNL and made a sorry excuse later that she had a sore throat?); after a while you just recognize patterns.

You're referring to Ashlee Simpson, who was 20 when she performed. You're comparing a twelve year old freaking out in front of God and everyone to an adult who lip synchs? They're not even slightly comparable.

I'm not saying the mother isn't controlling, and I'm not saying that the girl isn't a brat. I don't know her. I just don't think it's fair to judge someone's character and find it wanting after a three minute clip, nor do I feel it's cool to be as hard on kids as you are on adults. God damn.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Shorty

Call me judgmental, but I've seen enough children perform even more professionally and adequately than some ridiculously paid idols (who was that one chick that lip-sang on SNL and made a sorry excuse later that she had a sore throat?); after a while you just recognize patterns.

Originally Posted by a lurker

You're referring to Ashlee Simpson, who was 20 when she performed. You're comparing a twelve year old freaking out in front of God and everyone to an adult who lip synchs? They're not even slightly comparable.

Actually, he said something like "I've seen many children perform better than some adults," which I believe means that he's giving the kids credit while recognizing that such talented kids bode ill for those who are brats.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Just a quick reply, cuz its almost time for work.

Ok, well you mentioned it wouldn't be fair to judge someone in 3mins. Granted your argument has its merits.

However from the book Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, it mentions the ability of humans to do thin slicing.
Thin slicing is the power to -from wiki- gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience. In other words, spontaneous decisions are often as good as—or even better than—carefully planned and considered ones. --- snap judgements

To quickly sum it up, although to do disservice to the thing, it is something like, a subconcious ability, behind a locked door as he terms it, to process everything without yourself even knowing, but you're just able to capture the nuance of the event.


an example --John Gottman is a researcher well known for his work on marital relationships. His work is explored in Blink. After analyzing a normal conversation between a husband and wife, Gottman can predict whether that couple will be married in 15 years with 95% accuracy. If he analyzes them for 15 minutes, his accuracy reduces to 90%. This is one example of when "thin slicing" works.--- from wikipedia

So like in this case of Hollie, what people are doing after watching the video is thin-slicing. Which may not necessarily be disadvantaged when pitted against a longer period of observation as it is very accurate as well

FELIPE NO

Yeah, you can come up with a good feel for someone's personality while watching them for a few minutes in a normal situation. But in a high-stress situation, when a kid is breaking down? All you're going to learn is that the kid acts obnoxious when she's throwing a tantrum. Everyone does, that's why no one likes tantrums.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Did this girl actually win in the end? I saw her second go but not the initial outburst.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

She made it to the finals but did not place in the top 3 there.

Did anybody see how she behaved when she lost? That might be more indicative of quality of character.

There's nowhere I can't reach.