A love letter to a TV Show

BY MIA FREEDMAN

Dear Young Talent Time (YTT),

I bloody love you. I loved you when I was a kid and now I love you as a mother. There are 3 main reasons for my love and I will detail them now:

1. You give my kids and I something to watch together

I’m not a huge fan of kids shows. This is not totally surprising given I am not a kid. But I’ve watched my share of Wiggles and Disney movies and Bob The Builder and Charlie & Lola and ABC kids and I’m here to tell you, I struggle to stay interested. But Young Talent Time is something my daughter and I can watch together and discuss afterwards. We can sing along to the songs, discuss the contestants and their relative talents, debate who we think should win, listen to the judges give the most nurturing, gentle, constructive, positive feedback and endlessly change our minds about which team member is our favourite.

2. You are totally age-appropriate

I love pop music, yes I do. But this is something I can rarely share with my kids because all the lyrics are about ‘sex, I love the smell of it’ accompanied by images of people having, you know, sex pretty much. On Young Talent Time, the team members and contestants dress in a fun, creative and yet totally non-skanky way. The song choices and dance moves are awesome and family-friendly. And my daughter and I can have a fabulous time snuggling together on the couch or getting up and dancing in front of the TV. It is so rare to be able to enjoy pop culture with your kids, your show is a cool glass of water on a hot day.

3. You reward hard work and show fame as connected to something

This is rare when it comes to pop culture in this century. The past decade has seen the frightening birth of the Famous-For-Being-Famous brand of celebrity as well as the celebrity brand. The Kardashians, the Hiltons….all those girls on reality shows like The Hills whose names I can’t keep straight…well, none of them seem to have actual jobs beyond fueling their fame. And is it a coincidence that Paris and Kim first became famous when sex tapes of them were leaked? Ugh. On Young Talent Time, between the contestants and the kids in the Young Talent Team, they all have skills and talents. They sing, they dance, they act, they play instruments and write music. The work hard. They practice. They rehearse. And THAT is what gets them on TV. Not a sex tape. Not appearing at a nightclub opening. Not launching their own fragrance. This is such an important message to pass onto kids and one that’s pretty damn hard for parents when there is a new reality-celeb becoming famous faster than you can say “no-day-job”.

4. You are the real deal

When I went to a taping last week, every cast member, judge, host and crew-member walked the talk of this show. From Millsy to Johnny Young and all those extraordinarily talented kids who were charming and natural and friendly and positive…..it was a delight.

Here’s a bit of a look behind the scenes:

YTT, I really really hope that Channel 10 signs you up for another season. It’s such a relief and a pleasure to watch you.