Or are singing talent competition shows now pointless

[MissionItsPossible]

I am watching The Voice (the first episode I have ever watched) and saw a girl screech through a song wailing horribly loudly and they gave her a standing ovation because she was 16. It was good but not spectacular and not standing ovation worthy. The likes of Leona Lewis when she was a contestant yes, but that was way back when when you couldn't find thousands of potential singers on Youtube. Why are these shows (I mean The Voice and X Factor - I am excluding Britains Got Talent because that might sometimes be an actual unique talent) still popular? Is it just lazy routine that people watch? Nobody actually thinks people will become famous from or have a long career from them anymore, do they? I wonder why people put themselves through it, unless they hope for a fast track to fame rather than being a singer, but it's a lost hope.

YANBU I watched The Voice for 3 minutes and thought the girl singing Perfect had a reasonable voice, but was too forced and "belty" for the high notes. The judges loved it

I agree. Can't believe xfactor is still going. Ive never watched the voice.

@CurbsideProphet

They used to judge more harshly especially, understandably, on those that weren't that good or just okay but for the last four or five years it just seems anyone that can hold a note for more than five seconds and looks good while doing it gets praised

I agree that the prize seems pointless now. They don’t get even fifteen minutes of fame afterwards anymore, let alone a recording career.

Most of the winners of these shows are nowhere near as famous as the runners up. One Direction came third in the X-Factor and JLS came second, for example.
I never watch these shows because the early auditions are mostly excruciating, I used to just cringe watching the bad ones.

I thought tonight they chose popular songs for certain ones and the song was better than the performance ... Perfect and this is me , both got records but mediocre performances imo.

hit records grrr

I was just saying tonight that I think the format of The Voice would work better if the judges were more on the 'producer' side rather than big names/current singers. From what little of the show I watch it does seem that the egos get in the way a bit.

Also, Simon Cowell probably had a point when he said that when a judge is also an artist they can view the contestants as potential future competition.

I watched on of these shows once (at a friends house).
Believe the idea is that they all tell sad stories and then sing a song.
The person with the saddest story comes second, dedicates it to a long lost grandparent and is never heard of again ;)