Yup, that’s right – an all-female DJ talent show is coming to TV. Miss World meets DMC, anyone?
“They travel around the world, bringing clubs and festivals to ecstasy and getting adored by everyone,” reads to promo blurb for new reality TV show Beauty & The Beat. “But why are top DJs almost always men?”
This shaky ground is the premise for this female-only show on Dutch TV, which – we find out from the station’s website – is looking for “women who have the skills, the looks and the drive to be a superstar DJ!”
“The looks?” Since when did that matter? Did Deadmau5 get success based on his looks? Or Timo Maas? (Sorry, Timo). And do you think the judges will be all women too? Because judging by the picture, this is at least fronted by a male presenter.
Now I’m not Dutch, and maybe I’ve missed something…
Now I’m not Dutch, and maybe I’ve missed something (actually, I sincerely hope I have) – but if not, than this is surely degrading to both women and DJing. And although anyone who knows me personally will be able to confirm that I’m pretty far from politically correct when it comes to my views and humour, I find this pretty distasteful to say the least.
What do you think? Is an all-female DJ talent show judged by men a step forward for either women or DJing? Or is it a sad attempt to cash in on DJ culture / sex by the TV channel confirmed? Are you Dutch, and if so, can you shed some more light on this show for us? Let us know in the comments!
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Tags: female DJs, TV talent show
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I am Dutch and couldn’t believe it when I saw the teaser for this new show on TV. What a joke… can’t believe they even found woman who want to participate. If you take yourself serious as a DJ you wouldn’t sign up for this, so I’m guessing that most (if not all) of them can’t DJ at all.
[ link ]I’m Dutch to and just watched the program online.
And for crying out loud, please stop this nonsense.
I like the goal of the program and the I think that it is a genuine call of a company for a female DJ but look at the candidates.
I think if you want a really good female DJ just go scouting.
I’m starting of myself so FLOZ your completely correct
[ link ]Actually, among the contestants are a few that actually do really have talent and experience. Marlies Woudenberg aka Marlicious or Marlice actually has 300+ gigs done including quite some big ones. She actually can spin very well, has experience.
Last night she gave the simple explenation of why she’s participating. “I’ve been around for years now, things are going pretty well, but I could really use that little push in the back to bring it to top level”.
Even though the show kinda disgusts me, I did decide to watch it because it involves my personal hobby. And somehow I’m somewhat interested in seeing the wrongs and rights in this show. And boy, plenty of wrongs…
From what I’ve seen so far there are about 5 or 6 girls who really know what they’re doing and have been doing for quite some years. There are also a few that haven’t been into it for that long, and sorta dont have the slightest clue.
Now, everybody runs around yelling what a shame and disgrace it is, but think about it. If 1 of those more skilled girls wins the show, and that boost brings her on the highest level, who wouldn’t have taken that chance? It’s easy to say we’re proud of our hobby and we would never do that, but…it’s a much bigger chance to gain succes than stick around waiting for the next gig to show up on your agenda. Our DJ world has become so large, with so many people wanting to DJ, that it’s become insanely hard as a talent to break through. Now a days you just need to offer way more than just having skills, and sadly…these days those who dare to take alternatives routes are the ones who make it through.
[ link ]Bad taste. Judges may start focusing on looks versus skills.
[ link ]Not much MAY about it … they certainly will.
[ link ]Well, there’s a lot of work for us to do, I’ve noticed
[ link ]Well, if that’s how it is, they should at least show camera shots of boobs and booty. If you’re going to exploit, you might as well go all out with it.
[ link ]So yeah, I’m a female DJ from holland and I think they have fucked up for all of us who do know their gear and know how to actually spin vinyl. Not amused.. Watched the show with a knot in my stomach..
[ link ]I felt exactly the same!!
[ link ]I’m also Dutch. The beauty part isn’t so much the looks (but they surely count), but more about stage performance. Actual DJing is the most important thing of the show. The girl that got voted of the first episode didn’t know how to beatmatch. She was hot though.
It’s a very low-budget show, only 100 women auditioned. So not much could be expected.
[ link ]Guys, few girls from the shwo are damn good! Don’t even judge after these first 50 minutes.. There are 2 or 3 stupids in it.. just for the show. We all know it’s TV..
Just watch the show… The less, the better.
[ link ]It’s tv people! Sex and idiots for all of us to see. Sadly, it’s what sells.
[ link ]Another review of the show can be found here, be it in Dutch, saying the show is terrible:
http://www.djbroadcast.nl/news/newsitem_id=7109/Beauty_and_the_Beat_niet_serieus_te_nemen.html
The fun part is that the (female) judges also think the show is ridiculous; a dj contest starting with a photoshoot, camera shots focusing on buttcracks rather than mixing technique. Apparently the contestants have been casted before any real talents could register themselves.
[ link ]So the judges are female then? Or are they mixed?
[ link ]They are mixed. One of the judges is a female dj 100% Isis who started back in the 90′s.
[ link ]The show itself is a cheap show, aiming for viewers
I’ll go with “sad attempt to cash in on DJ culture / sex by the TV channel confirmed”
[ link ]Sister Bliss, anyone?
[ link ]Hey, I’m not that bad looking, am I?
[ link ]I never fancied you, sorry about that!
[ link ]lol! +100
[ link ]im dutch and all i can say is that the majority is disgusted,especially the people coming from the industry.
[ link ]a couple of months ago i received a mail from this loser producer asking if i wanted to sign up for this program…..(im not a big dj but a working 1..started out as a resident for pacha in spain(im half spanish)then moved on as a mobile dj this going on 4 almost 14 years).
anyways,i told him straight up(after reading his mail)that he should do his homework well and respect the industry,i found it sexist and programs like this would confirm so..also the content of the script was poor,sad and pathetic(and so is the program).
in all these years that i play i never ever been treated as just a female dj because when im playing im not aware of being a woman but im there to give the people what they want,wich is the package deal!!
to bring/spread my personal feeling.it aint about the money(evens u have to pay ur bills)..it aint about ego…its about spreading the joy and love of music and succeeding 2 make people dance and bring them pleasure thats the main goal!
so if you ask for an opinion,i tell u….ITS A SH*T PROGRAM!it enlights everything wich the industry is not!
A search to find the next DJ Paris Hilton, just what dance music needs right now.
[ link ]Well.. as a Dutch what can I say about Dutch TV..
I guess its to the edge of creative bankruptcy. Besides this amazing concept our TV features for example: “Celebrities Jump”: Dutch “celebs” do acrobatic diving ( http://tinyurl.com/bnaf8ua )
and now in the making “Celebrity ski jumping”: Dutch “celebs” go from the high slope (and break their bones)
Its cheap, its making fun of people not worth the whole topic
[ link ]God, the UK has the celebrity diving thing too.
[ link ]Yeah, we invented all kinds of crap. Big Brother, The Voice… Luckily for us, DanceTrippin is also Dutch, and airs here 24/7. It’s fun to come home after a night of partying and just relax with Seth Troxlers epic set from Time Warp Mannheim.
[ link ]this does not surprise me. gay scene is well known for – the better you look the more gigs you get.
[ link ]i dont understand a word they said, but i watched lol
[ link ]be glad….;-)
[ link ]DJ based TV shows are something I don’t think anyone in the profession will ever be happy with; this premise just goes to show one reason why.
[ link ]If it wasn’t for Tits ‘n ass we would all be gay so …meh
[ link ]We can all be appalled…. but were we as appalled when they did all the other “it’s not about the crat, bit about the looks” shows?
I mean seriously…. did DigitalDJTips also complain when The voice of…. started over there? Or X Factor? Or any other show?
Now it’s us.
So if you weren’t REALLY complaining before…. then don’t do it now.
If you were…. then yeah! it’s a real crapper…. but they’re only doing what the public wants. And only all too often do I read that as a DJ what you should be doing is just that: what the public wants.
So please… please make up your mind. Either say that we are doing it for ourselves and it’s the creative thing that rewards us. It’s about the craft etc.
Or we are doing it for the people. It’s the art, not the craft… it the psychology of the crowd and jumping on that, not creating the best thing you could no matter what the crowd thinks.
P.s. I’m Dutch… I like to D… but I’m also a mysanthropist… mainly because I think the hoard has the worst taste. So for me it IS about the craft….
[ link ]It’s actually the sexism more than the talent show aspect that offends me.
[ link ]Putting the derogatory aspect of this show aside, one thing none of these DJ talent shows and award shows seems to understand is the fact that these superstar DJs gain their fame from producing records back in their studio. Its not from their ability to stand in front of a crowd and blend two tracks whilst looking like a ‘cool DJ’
[ link ]Is this like “King of the Nerds?” Because it doesn’t seem like “Insert_the_blank’s got DJ skills.”
I’m all for helping to empower women, they’d be dumb not to have attractive women on this show and I love to DJ, but I’m pretty sure that good looks have very little to do with this kind of entertainment. Pretty women tend to get a lot of breaks because they are pretty, which will make it harder on the DJs trying to package “looks and skill”… perhaps so hard that even the slightest error will be over-scrutinized leading people to think the woman DJ was only there because of her looks or someone else is doing it for her off-stage. Didn’t Paris Hilton fail at this just a few months back?
If people really wanted to see “T ‘n’ A” while listening to a DJ set, why don’t they go to a club with Go-Go Dancers or a Massive with an emphasis on looking sexy?
I think we should ignore it, tell our friends that the show is insulting both women and DJs, chastise anyone who watches it and refuse to buy products that support the show … it’ll probably go away after it loses money… unless it ends up being like “Baywatch.”
[ link ]I’m Dutch myself, and I don’t think anyone is going to take this show seriously.
[ link ]I’m sure that some of them might be talented, but you won’t catch me watching this sad excuse for a TV show.. (might be because I hate talent shows)
MISS NINE FTW
[ link ]What do you think? Is an all-female DJ talent show judged by men a step forward for either women or DJing? Or is it a sad attempt to cash in on DJ culture / sex by the TV channel confirmed?
This must be definitely a rhetorical question!
[ link ]Yes
[ link ]Will Pauly D be a judge? Is there a swimsuit competition? Rubbish. I’m glad I decided to start learning how to dj. I have been putting more time into djing than rotting my brain with the “boob tube.”
[ link ]mockery runs amuck, why should our culture be any different, wish the ‘testants best of luck, well actally i’m ind’difrent, all girl dj talent show, but i’d rather see ‘em twirking, not really gonna complain though, cause at least those hos are workin.
[ link ]and there we have it: thoughts from the target audience.
this was meant for snark and insult. I agree with those above who said exploitation was going to hit every industry.
As a woman who spins on the radio, it’s frustrating to see even more sexism highlighting how few of us are out here, when we are paying dues like everyone else.
[ link ]Oh my lord, it was so bad! We hadn’t hear a mix or a tune longer than 10 seconds. Then they started to whine about a fotoshoot, because image is everything (huh, isn’t that the music???).
I loved it because it is very poor sleazy television, I’m definetly going to watch the next episode. I’ll keep you informed on this soap!
By the way the producerpeeps wrote on their facebook that we should switch channels if we didn’t like the program… Surrendering already? Whahahahahahaha!!!
Does anybody have seen or remember a program called bedroom dj? I think it was broadcast on the Belgium TMF music channel. That was nice, they gave a typical bedroom dj a good amount of time to show his skills on the telly.
[ link ]I am appalled, displeased, outraged, queasy, repelled, repulsed, and totally disgusted… all bundled up into one queezy little stomach knot.
[ link ]As some of my fellow countrymen have already remarked, Dutch television is on the edge of creative bankruptcy. Don’t forget, this is the country that brought you Big Brother, The Voice of and countless more ridiculous commercial ‘reality’ tv (s)exploitation programming (courtesy of Endemol, look them up) The most appalling thing about this piece of junk is that it’s on BNN, meaning it’s from a public broadcaster….this steaming dungheap is taxpayer funded! Makes me want to strangle someone. Therefore, as a Netherlander, I would like to apologize to the international community for this idiocy.
[ link ]stereotype: pretty girls, ex-models or wannabe models playing generic sets.. and obvious tracks. some of them are djs because they can’t be anything else. or they don’t want any hard working job.
not much world hype about that show.. as well as the “the dutch influence” documentary. the scene seams to be really small in holland. dutch djs/producers are bigger in the united states…
[ link ]I’ve seen the show, and I understand the importance of image. Because of interviews in magazines and such things.
But please, select contestants who are basically great at spinning records, at least a little bit (the ‘beauty’ can come second).
This tv show isn’t good for the image of females seriously being busy with music – I’m not a dj btw, but an internet radio owner (just for fun). Basically, both things are about making people happy with nice music.
[ link ]I would like to add that this show is NOT on a commercial channel. But on a channel that focuses on young adults. Not sure if that is any redeeming factor here. (Also Dutch).
[ link ]I’m a DJ, also from Holland, and I must say that the anticipation to watch this program after a tip of one of my friends whas gone within five minutes after whatching what went on…..As good as the quality of DJ’s from holland worldwide , as bad is this show which pretents to be seriously in search for a female DJ. I keep hoping that someday a show will emerge, produced with the same budget as x-factor, voice of… etc.
[ link ]Untill then , we have to do with this comedy like cheap ass production from a network who hasn’t got a clue obviously about what dj’ing is all about…
I’m a woman, starting as a DJ and even though I haven’t watch this TV show (I’ll have to give it a look to know exactly what it’s about), your comments reminds me of what a friend (a DJ) told me when he learned that I was giving DJing a try. He told me that he loves that women with a brain, not only just about the looks, start DJing, when women with the willpower to work their ass off to create their own style in music and bring something different to the table were crazy enough to step into this men’s world. Someone different from Paris Hilton. Because according to what I’m reading here, it looks like a TV show were very average DJ get super good exposure because of their look, or money, or connections. Starting as a DJ is hard, but when the only female DJs people know are Paris Hilton and now those women, it accentuates the pressure on females. I’m not saying you can’t look good and DJ, but you shouldn’t DJ if you only look good.
[ link ]The show sounds crass. I’ve always had an issue with talentless female “DJs” who are getting booked gigs ahead of skilled and talented male and female DJs on the basis that they look good in a bikini. Havana Brown absolutely grates me, I’ve seen her play live and my 12yo niece has more skill than her. I much prefer the DJ Shortee, DJ Heavensent and other skilled female DJs of the world. BUT I’m from New Zealand … And we started the whole singing pop idol thing in the first place. Ashamed!
[ link ]I hope they all live in the same house and share a shower. That’d be pretty sweet.
[ link ]As a female DJ I find it embarrassing. Truthfully, we have to fight to be recognized for our skill enough as it is.
[ link ]Next thing you know labels will be pushing female DJs like the next Britney pop star.
Luckily, I believe that skill is an industry standard and I do believe it cannot be so easily shaken. Although, with this show as a testament, it can be mocked.
Vile.
As a woman who has been DJing for almost 20 years, and producing for almost 10, it’s frustrating to see this bullshit. It’s demeaning, belittles women’s talents and detracts from the actual reason for DJing: the music.
And as a woman who has made her career on talent, while presenting as “non-feminine” and “non-straight”, it’s a kick in the face to know that talent will never get me as far as someone else’s luck of the genes.
[ link ]