Where got so many shows to host?

It's hard NOT to notice all the "Search for Singapore's best" competitions because during every single freaking commercial break on any god-damned channel, the viewers are bombarded by trailer ads about "Star Idol", "Super Host", "School Superstar", "Singapore Idol '06" and whatever have you. This has to be reality overkill in its purest form!

We have 4.25 million people squeezed onto this puny island and we have often been mistaken to be a part of China for god's sake! So i ask, why the sudden need for so many "talents"? Take the recently concluded "Project Superstar" for example, we managed to produced like 10 hosts from a singing competition, yes? So much so that we have to come up with a completely new programme (Super Funkies) for them to host because Singaporeans need more people to tell them where to find good food, the latest shopping hunt or update them on celebrity gossip. Don't we already have like a million other programmes that are doing just that?

Best of all, "Super Host" is starting soon and considering the fact that there are 16 finalists, i expect at least 8 to be given contracts to host local programmes. More hosts, great, just what we need. I guess they would have to name the programme "Super Hosties" and the show would feature good food, great shopping and celebrity gossip. Do i sense a pattern forming?

"School Superstar", now that's another disaster waiting to happen. According to reports the turnout was so overwhelming that auditions would have to last from Sunday to Tuesday! This is a competition which claims to give students a chance to showcase their singing talents, interact with other students and improve their Chinese! Do you think you can finish the competition before school re-opens? I don't think so. Even if we do manage to find our school idols, what would we do with them? Release albums? Surely not, so the only solution is to create yet another new programme for them to host, yes? This new programme would be a local students' guide to good food, good shopping and celebrity gossip. How does "Ultra Funkies" sound?

I sincerely don't understand the need for "Star Idol" because if my memory serves me well, we have something called "Star Search", which is responsible for topping up our local pool of acting (And hosting for fark's sake) talent. At least "Star Search" is judged by a qualified panel of judges and not by friends whose thumbs are swollen from all that sms-ing. I forsee yet another quality primetime slot being taken up for a new programme called "Idol Hosties" where the finalist get to introduce the good food places, best shopping buys and gossip about celebritites. Hey, where have i heard that before?

Speaking for myself, i don't give an owl's hoot about the new programmes that might possibly be introduced once we are through with all the competitions, just as long as none of my Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japanese or Korean shows are sacrificed. Oh well, at least we have no problem looking for people to perform those cock-a-nathan stunts during charity shows.

By the way, notice that everything from Ch5 and Ch8 have "Idol" while everything from ChU has "Super"?