CBC’s Triple Sensation: Master Class (Part 2)

Vancouver’s last contender on CBC’s Triple Sensation, Alyssa Brizzi, was sent packing last night along with Toronto’s Tess Benger.

The inherent transparency of reality television frustrates me in countless ways.  I resent the casting of real-life people as stereotypical characters.  I dislike how editing shapes our opinions of who we should be rooting for.  But mostly, I don’t like the way producers feel the need to telegraph which contestants are likely to go home in a particular episode.

In last night’s episode of Triple Sensation, it becomes readily apparent within the first 15 minutes that the two most likely candidates for elimination are Alyssa Brizzi and Tess Benger.  Benger has been heavily featured in the series so far, but has not really received any rave reviews from the judges and instructors.   That suggests that the producers found her personality to be a good source of material for reality television and are milking her presence for screen time for as long as she is around.  But it doesn’t bode well for her chances at winning the competition.

The same issues that I had last week with the acclaim showered on Leah Cogan are still very much at play. Her talent is not in question; she seems to excel with all of the guest instructors.  And to her credit, I found myself liking her rendition of “I Won’t Mind.”  But I still don’t why she’s consistently at the top of the class.  Maybe, it’s as I said last week, something extra she has in person that is lost on film.  Maybe, I’m biased.  Or maybe I’ve been suckered by the show’s editing to fall for our plucky-but-doomed heroine, Tess Benger.

The men in the competition all appear to be relatively safe, for the moment.  Glen Mills, Liam Tobin and David Light are all extremely likeable in different ways and relate well to the guest instructors.

Two more finalists face elimination on Triple Sensation next week in part five of six, Mondays on CBC, through July 27^th