In each episode (so far), a handful of people with zero discernible star quality who each feel like pariahs of society strap themselves into the motion capture suit and sing a song backstage while their colorful alter egos-characters that they’ve helped design down to the hairstyle and skin color-perform in front of the judges. And there’s no way we can solve that problem.”
Every aspect of Alter Ego makes me throw my hands in the air and wonder how and why this show got made-as in why was this developed and how did this make it to air without anyone involved in the production stopping themselves and saying, “Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. This is a program that is so bafflingly watchable I had to wonder if there was some Josie and the Pussycats -esque government subliminal messaging that kept me not only watching but wanting more. The whole thing feels like an extended bit from an episode of 30 Rock collided with the plotline of an unmemorable episode of Black Mirror -two more pop culture references that are overused, but when you’re trying to ascertain the meaning of something like Alter Ego, you must grasp at every straw you can to make sense out of something that was never supposed to make any sense at all. As much as these two descriptors are lazily applied to things that don’t actually fit their definition, there’s no denying that they are certainly the most appropriate terms that come to mind when trying to make sense of Alter Ego, the confounding new FOX reality competition where “singers” of middling-to-mildly-deserving merit suck themselves into a skin-tight motion capture suit to create the show’s titular animated personalities so they can “perform” for possibly the most perplexing panel of judges ever assembled for a reality television show. The same goes for the word “dystopian,” which has now become a favorite throw-around adjective for any societal problem that feels strange or unjust. We’ve nearly gotten to the point where two words that are used to describe something that is artificial or robotic in nature as eerily humanlike-so much so that it evokes a feeling of distress or unease-are nearly meaningless because of how often they’re ascribed to things that are simply just weird. Everyone did such a great job those things come together flawlessly.The phrase “uncanny valley” is thrown around a lot these days. And that’s a credit to the talent of the singers involved and the tech team. You’re completely sold on this alter ego giving this powerful performance and you don’t question it for a second. I wasn’t sitting there thinking, I wonder who’s behind that. When they perform I wasn’t taken out of it at all. So we get a chance to see their persona and all the quirky things about it. The good part of the process was that we have a chance to interview them before they perform. He just embodied that alter ego and it fit with the musicality he brought to the stage as well.Īre you judging performances based on vocals alone or do the avatars influence you as well?
You’re not thinking about anything other than this alter ego and their performance. I think Dipper was one of those people who jumped out. There are some people who just seemed to embody their alter ego better than others with the combination of their alter ego and musical style seemeing to work flawlessly together. was so impactful about Dipper was he sang with a real kind of raw emotion and our goal in this was to find this next-generation superstar.
What was it about Dipper Scott’s performance that seemed to resonate with you and your fellow judges? Dipper Scott (Credit: 2021 FOX Media LLC)