The Contender

The first time I HEARD about this show i knew it would be ranked as one of the most watched shows ever! I didn't even have to watch it to like it. And yes, it is WAY better than Tough Enough!

The first thing i liked about this show was that it involves boxing. Each one of the contestants is fighting for what he believes in and what they believe in is that they are better than all of the other warriors in that competition.

Another thing i praise this show for is the casting of the hosts. I think it is an excellent idea to get hosts that have a background in boxing. The hosts of The Contender are: Sylvester Stallone (Sly) who starred in the Academy Award Winning Rocky and Sugar Ray Leonard, the former World Champion.

It had an excellent start because i liked the overconfidence of the contenders early on in the contest. For example: the feud between Ahmed Kaddour of the East and Ishe Smith of the West. Their fight is the most emotional match and the one with most meaning so far in the show.

Each fight is simply awesome. I liked the camera angles that slows down the punches of each fighter so you'll see if the punch hit the opponent or not. And during the end of the fight, it gets very emotional. On the part of the winner: knowing that you're one step closer to realizing your dream, assuring yourself that you're staying in the game for another week, and being proud that you were the one who sent that opponent home. On the loser's part: walking back to the locker room with your head down, taking a shower and pounding on the wall, hanging up your gloves and walking out of the gymnasium.

I recommend this show to all the fight fans and reality show enthusiasts!

'The Contender' is a show with a genuine reality to it. It doesn't try to create drama- there's enough of that in the ring. It just follows a bunch of lower-class boxers trying to make it in the business. Basically, looking to be the next Rocky. With Sly Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard training, along with other professionals, they help these guys try to make a dream come true. In the end, the final two boxers will compete for $1,000,000. This show is possibly the greatest reality show in a long, long time. You have the humble, young boxers, like Ishe or Juan, and you have the cocky punks, like Ahmad. It can sometimes be the fight between good and evil, but this time, you don't know who's gonna win. This brings all the entertainment possible: Fighting, shouting, and human emotion. I like it, and so will you.

I feel happy but still confused about this show. It has everything I could dream of from a good show. GOOD boxers, Stallone and Sugar Ray, tactics and psyching.

But I can't stand the dramatizing music, slow motions and empty bombastic phrases. And I hate the filming of the matches - lots of audience filming on family and friends, lots of slow motion and the from below angle never gives you a possibility to understand how the fight goes. And I feel uncertain all the time if these fights are really just the boxers doing their best, or following a script to dramatize the match - the matches are swinging forth and back a bit much.

But I just can't help loving the show. I hope that I'm not tricked, but that this show is actually the real thing.

Usually, I can't stand "reality" shows. I don't care to see average people go through anything to get on television, not to mention the fact that the presence of cameras totally contaminates their behavior. I can survive on an island for over a month, I can eat cattle eyes, and I could cheat on my girlfriend. I just don't think any of it is worth it just to be recognized(for a little while). I know, the money doesn't hurt either but greed isn't any more noble than vanity.

So, on to the point. "The Contender" buries all those other shows for a few reasons. First of all, these guys are doing something most of us can't. They are professional fighters. Getting punched hurts, staying in peak physical condition all the time takes way more discipline than the average north American can muster in their dreams. I'm a big sports fan and part of the appeal is athletes(with the exception of some baseball players) are as close to super human as you can get. The second reason this show stands above is because their behavior wouldn't change much without the cameras. The only exception is there would be no Sly, but don't forget, he's just an actor anyway. And finally, at there is a fight at the end of each show, again, I'm a fight fan so knowing there will be a professional boxing match with elimination on the line is really exciting to me.

My only criticism is the cheesy over-dramatization, but it's network TV and they would jump off a building before presenting something at face value(think Superbowl).

_D

This is reality show from Mark Burnett and Sylvester Stallone. It aims to bring boxing back to prominence with a compelling TV competition show. Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard give 16 young hopefuls a shot at a million dollar paycheck.

The reality part with the personal lives isn't that great. The games they play are of little interest. It is the boxing match that makes this show. It's not simply a sports boxing match like all the rest. They've Hollywooded it up with slow motion, and selective editing to amp up the adrenaline rush. The boxing matches are a great watch worthy of any big time movie. As for the caliber of the boxing, that's very much in dispute. But that may not be the point. We're watching the beauty of 2 men in competition, but not necessarily finding the next champ.