Baloney. Her looks are the story. The whole reason it’s compelling television is the surprise. It was set up that way. They set you up by showing you this very warm, endearing frumpy old gal. Every one is cynical about it. Low expectations. And then it turns out she’s a pretty good singer, so everyone is delighted. Of course she showed a lot of courage getting up in front of so many people. I’m not knocking her for that. But if people couldn’t see her. If there was no drama involved. If they didn’t know it was her first time, they’d have a much different reaction. It’s not even debatable. The surprise is what makes the video.
So she has gone from ok to pretty good? Obviously, the drama/surprise was a big part of the emotional response. That is what these shows are designed to do. Just like in a good musical or movie or music video. They knew there was some potential there for great television and that she could sing.
My problem is you are tryng to downplay her talent because of the emotional setup of the clip and her looks. She would be considered extremely talented whether you could see her or not. A studio recording of her would spend hours making sure she was eq’d correctly and every note was hit perfectly. Only then would she possibly be able to meet your high standards of talent.
THIS IS WHAT THE SHOW IS ALL ABOUT! The average person with talent getting a break.